The Ministry of National Education has clarified how class promotion will work for high school students in the 2019–2020 academic year. According to the ministry’s guidance, all 12th-grade students will be allowed to sit for university entrance exams regardless of whether they have any outstanding (sorumlu) courses. Grades earned during the first term of the final year will be used to calculate the year-end achievement score. Senior students who fail to achieve the required success in some courses may take responsibility exams; if they pass those exams, their graduation score will be calculated and they will be graduated.
Responsibility (sorumluluk) exams will be scheduled during the first week of the first term, the first week of the second term, and within the final two weeks of the academic period. Because the year-end score for 2019–2020 is determined based on first-term grades, no assessment instruments from the second term will be taken into account. Students will not receive grade evaluations for instruction that was not delivered face-to-face.
How Will Diploma and Secondary Education Success Scores Be Calculated?
Students who pass all courses, as well as students with failed courses who still achieve a year-end success score of at least 50, will be promoted to the next grade directly. Students in lower grades who do not meet direct-promotion conditions will move up to the next grade as responsible (sorumlu) students, regardless of the number of failed courses and without subject-specific differentiation. 12th-grade students will be responsible for any courses they failed; if they pass the responsibility exam for a failed course, their graduation score will be calculated and they will be awarded their diploma.
Graduation scores for 12th-grade students will be calculated as the arithmetic average of the year-end success scores from grades 9, 10 and 11 and the first-term success score from the 2019–2020 school year. That calculated graduation score will also be recorded on the diploma as the diploma score. The diploma score will serve as the secondary education success score used in relevant calculations. The Ministry of National Education has stated that first-term absenteeism will be considered for all students; those who exceed allowed absenteeism limits will be held back and required to repeat the grade. Students who meet the direct-promotion criteria will graduate and receive their diplomas.