Students, in the final year of secondary education in Serbia, are currently required to simultaneously prepare for graduation and higher education entrance examinations. The implementation of the former at the individual school level - rather than through national standardised final examinations - has contributed to a situation in which entrance examinations for HEIs are determined by individual universities (with significant variation also at the faculty level). Further, there are no general regulations stipulating by whom and how these fee-based entrance exams should be prepared, nor what should be included in their content. This has led to a relative disconnection between the secondary education curriculum and university admission requirements.
This project intervention - in supporting the introduction of a national final examination at the end of secondary education in Serbia - represents a critical step towards addressing these challenges. The introduction of objective, precise and standardised final examinations at the end of secondary education will bring a wide range of benefits, including: