Croatian State Matura Exams

The State Matura exam in Croatia is a secondary school leaving examination. The exam is managed and organised by the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education. Students who have completed their secondary education from gymnasium, vocational or art high schools are required to sit for the state Matura exams.

Students who have completed their secondary studies abroad with the externally evaluated exam are not required to sit for the state Matura exam in Croatia. Rest all the students have to take the Matura exam in order to apply for higher education institution in Croatia.

Croatian State Matura Compulsory exams can be undertaken on two levels: 

• Higher/Extended level (A)
• Basic level (B)

Pupils can choose between the basic and extended level of the exam. All other state Matura exams are taken on one level.

Students who wish to go for higher education institution in Croatia are required to pass Matura exams- 3 compulsory exams and 1 optional exam. Each Croatian higher education institution sets their own score requirement of the State Matura exams.

State Matura exams are held in two terms: 

• Summer term
• Fall term

To the exact dates and deadlines of the State Matura exam, visit the official website of the National Center for External Evaluation of Education (www.ncvvo.hr).

The Croatian State Matura exams comprises of compulsory and optional state exams. 

State Matura exams comprises of three compulsory subjects:

• Mathematics 
• Croatian language
• A foreign language 

Croatian Language

Croatian language exam comprises of two sections: Literature written exam and an essay.

• Duration: 80 minutes
• Type of question: Multiple-choice and matching questions

Literature written exam: Students can appear for the basic level or for the extended level literature written exam. This exam is held in May. The exam changes every year, but the some list of works remains the same:

• For basic level: Sophocles' Antigone, Camus' The Stranger, Novak's Posljednji Stipančići,  Ibsen's A Doll's House, Cesarić's Lirika, Matos's Pjesme, Gundulić's Dubravka, and Krleza's The Glembays.
• For extended level: Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, Camus' Stranger, Krleza's The Glembays, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Marinković's Ruke, Drzić's Dundo Maroje, The Return of Filip Latinovicz, Sophocles' Antigone! Simić's Preobrazenja, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Poe's The Black Cat, Nehajev's Bijeg, Soljan's Kratki izlet, and Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

An essay: Students are required to write an essay of 400 to 600 words. 

• Duration: 160 minutes

Can be French, English, Spanish, German, or Italian. Classical high school students can select Ancient Greek or Latin. 

Matura exam has the following optional subjects:

Visual arts, sociology, geography, ethics, biology, politics, music, physics, logics, philosophy, chemistry, religious studies, computer science, psychology, and history. 

The list of optional exams is provided by the National Center for External Evaluation of Education for each school. To know the complete list of optional exams, visit the official website of National Center for External Evaluation of Education (www.ncvvo.hr). Students can apply for six optional exams within one application period.  

In the optional exams, foreign language exams can be chosen, but they can be taken at advanced/higher level only.

Latin exam can be undertaken at basic or higher level. Other optional exams, including Greek language exam are taken on a unique level/no level.

All the optional exams at the time of evaluation are equally assessed, irrespective of their level. 

Candidates can apply for state Matura exams and courses on the official website of the National Information System of Applications for Higher Education Institutions (www.ncvvo.hr). Both the Croatian and international students who have completed their 4-year secondary education or its equivalent studies abroad can apply on this website. Candidates must accept the General Terms of Applications of State Matura Exams and study courses on this website and digitally sign the General terms when registering for the first time.

Candidates must click on “My Choice” and select up to 10 study courses. When the study courses are selected, the candidate can apply automatically for the state Matura exams needed by that study course. Candidates can choose the level of the exams- higher level (A) or basic level (B).

Candidates who want to apply only for the state Matura exams, not the study programmes, must select the option “State Matura Exams”under the “My Choice (Moj odabir)” menu.

To know the exams schedule- location and time, candidates must log onto the website www.ncvvo.hr and go to the “My Schedule” menu. The schedule is available 5 days before the exam.

Test day essentials: Candidates must take a valid ID document with a photograph on the exam day, and keep it on the table during the exam.

Candidates with disabilities are allowed to get adjustment of exams. Such candidates must abide by the instructions for Adjustment of Exam Technology on State Matura Exams that are available on website of the National Center for External Evaluation of Education (www.ncvvo.hr).

Candidates with disabilities must submit an application for the adjustment along with the required documents.

The scoring of the Croatian language essay is done independently by the two teachers.

The National Center for External Evaluation of Education determines the point threshold for both the levels- basic and higher levels of the state Matura exams. Grades from 1 to 5 are given on the basis of the point thresholds.

Two days after the exam, answers are available. Log in to your account and go to the “My results (Moji rezultati)” page to check your result. The National Center for External Evaluation of Education issues a confirmation to candidates who have passed the State Matura exams.