From 4th grade, Ukrainian students will take only the State Final Examination (DPA), which will serve exclusively as a monitoring tool and will not affect grades or further studies, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to the Telegram channel of Serhiy Babak, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science, and Innovation.
The official clarified that standardized testing (ZNO) will not be conducted in elementary school, and the DPA will solely assess the level of students’ knowledge. According to Babak, any modern education system provides for final evaluations at key stages of learning to determine student outcomes and whether program adjustments are needed.
Babak emphasized that previously, schools conducted the assessments themselves: in 4th grade through control tests, and in 9th and 11th grades through final exams. When ZNO was introduced, students after 11th grade took both the DPA and external standardized testing if they planned to enter universities.
He reminded that according to the 2020 Law “On Complete General Secondary Education,” state examinations are conducted in 4th, 9th, and 11th grades. In senior school, it takes the form of ZNO to simultaneously issue the diploma and record results for university admission. For 9th graders, the law allows DPA in the form of ZNO for those entering vocational schools.
The committee head also noted that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale war, the Verkhovna Rada annually adopted temporary measures: DPA was canceled, and ZNO was replaced by the National Multisubject Test (NMT). This simplified procedures and reduced risks for children but prevented the state from obtaining a full picture of educational quality.
According to Babak, the lack of systematic assessment over the past five years created a situation where there is no evidence base to evaluate the results of the “New Ukrainian School” reform. Therefore, restoring the DPA is a return to standard practice, allowing an objective assessment of students’ knowledge and timely improvement of educational programs.
Earlier we wrote that SkyUp launches 11 new routes from Chișinău in 2025–2026: tickets from €15.
