No increase in passing scores for admission to higher education institutions is expected; this year’s results are approximately at last year’s level.
“Elchi” reports that these remarks were made by Maleyka Abbaszade, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the State Examination Center (SEC), in an interview with Baku TV.
According to her, there are various assessment procedures and modern grading scales in place:
“Our assessment procedures are among the simplest. We have been explaining how passing scores are formed for 30 years. First, there is a condition for admission to the competition. That is, you must score a certain number of points to be admitted to the competition. This threshold varies across different directions: it can be 200 points, 150 points, or 60 points for some specialties requiring aptitude. First, you are admitted to the competition. The number of people who achieve this score in that direction can be different each year. Second, the number of planned spots allocated for that direction also changes from year to year. Third, the number of people applying for the specialty you want to choose also varies every year.
Imagine that 100,000 people participate in the exam, and, for example, 60,000 of them are admitted to the competition. It is impossible to accurately predict in advance which specialty these participants will choose or which direction they will prefer. However, we have been observing certain trends over the last 30 years, especially in the last 10 years.”
The SEC Chairperson emphasized that there are traditional choices:
“But these traditional choices change over time. Notice how interest in information technology has increased over the last 10 years. There will be changes after this as well. This process is gradual. We cannot say a year in advance whether passing scores for a particular specialty will drop or rise. Of course, it is possible that a specialty might be closed or the number of planned spots might decrease. In this case, passing scores may increase. Currently, our expectation is that the number of planned spots will be approximately at last year’s level. However, there is no final information on this yet.”
M. Abbaszade added that one of the main factors forming passing scores is the knowledge level of the applicants:
“This year’s results are approximately at last year’s level. Therefore, it is not correct to predict in advance that there will be any sharp jump or significant decline. Overall, we expect the same level as last year. Nevertheless, there may be some changes.”