Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "graduation certificate",

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's high school

matriculation examination A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a School leaving qualification, school leaving ce ...

. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education in Israel.

Overview

A Bagrut certificate is awarded by the

Israeli Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education (, translit. ''Misrad HaHinukh''; ) is the branch of the Israeli government charged with overseeing public education institutions in Israel. The department is headed by the Minister of Education, who is a member of the ...

to students who pass the ministry's required written (and in some cases oral) subject-matter examinations with a passing mark (55% or higher) in each exam. The Bagrut certificate however should not be confused with a

high school diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

(''te'udat g'mar tichon'', ،

: شهادة انهاء الثانويّة), which is a certificate awarded by the Ministry of Education attesting that a student has completed 12 years of study. Bagrut scores are one of the criteria examined in applications to elite military units and Israeli academic institutions. Other criteria include students' high school grades and the

Psychometric Entrance Test The Psychometric Entrance Test (PET) – commonly known in Hebrew as "''ha-Psikhometri''" (The Psychometric) – is a standardized test that serves as an entrance exam for institutions of higher education in Israel. The PET covers three areas: qu ...

. Bagrut exams are frequently compared to the

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

Regents Examinations In New York State, Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects. Students were required to pass these exams to earn a Regents Diploma. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate cred ...

, the

College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

(AP) tests, the British

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

s, the German

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, and the European

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

Bagrut exams

Bagrut examinations assess knowledge on subjects studied in high school. The process of matriculation in Israel is supervised by the country's Ministry of Education. The exams of all compulsory subjects and most elective subjects are designed and written by the Ministry, thereby creating a standard measure of the students' knowledge throughout the country. In academically oriented high schools, the last two years of studies are geared to preparing students for the bagrut exams.

Compulsory subjects

* 3–5 units of

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

(written and oral) and literature * 3–5 units of

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

*2 units

Civics In the field of political science, civics is the study of the civil and political rights and obligations of citizens in a society. The term ''civics'' derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". In U.S. politics ...

*2 units General and Israeli history * 2 units Hebrew/Arabic and translated world

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

Jewish thought Jewish thought (, ''Machshevet Yisrael''), also known as Judaic thought or Hebraic thought, is a field of Jewish studies that deals with the products of Jewish thought and culture throughout the ages, and their historical development. The field a ...

in state religious schools) * At least one 5-unit elective, such as geography, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, Arabic, French, social sciences, expanded

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

etc. It is also possible to expand a 2 unit discipline to 5 units, or to write an academic-style thesis worth 5 units in a certain discipline. School dependent subjects * Religious

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

s: **State schools – 2 units

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law () are statutes and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah (), and which are regarded by Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jews as prescriptive ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

**Arab schools – 1 unit

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

culture and heritage ("religion and heritage" for

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

) *Language ** Hebrew-language schools – 2 units

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

grammar and composition **Arabic-language schools – 3 units

grammar and composition, 3 units

grammar and composition Internal subjects compulsory only for students who studied in a traditional high-school setting (not included in grade average) *180 hours physical education (60 a year over 3 years) *Two "general education" subjects, 30 hours each *90 hours introduction to science (3 hours a week for one year) *180 hours volunteer work

Scoring and pass rate

Most exams are available in different levels of difficulty, expressed in "units of study". In most subjects, students may choose the number of units in which they are tested. In order to receive a "full" matriculation certificate, the student must take and pass at least one subject matter exam at the 5-unit level of difficulty and earn a total of at least 21 combined study units in all bagrut exams taken. Correspondingly, the make-up of students' classes during their high school years is matched to the students' expected units of study in which they will be tested in their bagrut exams. For example, students planning to take the 5-unit mathematics exam will take mathematics courses specifically designed for a 5-unit level of difficulty all throughout their high school careers. 65.5% of Israeli high school 2014 graduates, or other individuals studying for the 2014 exam (usually post-

compulsory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

persons completing Bagrut requirements later in life in order to apply for higher education) had passed the requirements to be eligible to receive a Bagrut certificate. Of the overall population who was of high school graduation age in 2019, 76.1% were eligible to receive a Bagrut certificate.

Recent history

A copy of the 2010 mathematics exam (in the four and five units levels) was leaked to students, but a teacher reported it to authorities and all tests were replaced. In 2011, the percentage of 17-year-olds who passed the matriculation exams rose to 48.3 percent, and the number of students sitting for the exams in both the Jewish and the Arab school systems increased.Sa'ar hails 2.2% rise in bagrut pass rate
/ref> In 2021, all the bagrut exams materials have been temporarily decreased to ensure a high passing rate due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

that prevented students from going to schools as they would normally do. In the last decade, bagrut exams are still being leaked 5–10 minutes before the exams' start time.

References