Bagrut

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Te'udat Bagrut (Hebrew: תעודת בגרות‎ - certification of maturity) is the name of the official high school qualification certificate in Israel, also called a matriculation certificate (though not to be confused with a High school diploma or certificate which are also given in Israel after completion of the twelfth grade). The bagrut certificate is similar to the British A-levels, German Abitur, French Baccalauréat and Austrian Matura. The certificate is given to the student after passing written (and in some cases oral) exams, obtaining a passing mark (55% or higher) in each exam.

The entire process of the examination is governed by the the country's Ministry of Education. Furthermore, the exams of all compulsory subjects (see below), and most facultative subjects, are designed and written by the Ministry as well, thereby creating a standard measure of the students' knowledge throughout the country.

The following subjects are compulsory for obtaining the certificate:

Hebrew Bible or the Holy Scriptures of Christianity or Islam, in the relevant sectors of the population.
Language
- Hebrew or Arabic grammar
- Hebrew or Arabic composition
English language (written and oral)
Mathematics
Knowledge of the nation and state (ידע העם והמדינה)
- Civics and Minorities studies
- History of the Jewish or Arab nation
- World History
Hebrew/Arab and world literature
At least one facultative subject, such as geography, physics, chemistry, computer science, Arabic, French etc.

For most subject matter exams, the student may choose the level of difficulty he or she would like to be tested under. This level of difficulty is expressed as "units of study" (yehidot bagrut), from 1 (least difficult) to 5 (most difficult). In order to receive a "full" matirculation 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.

[edit] Changes in the system

Though often contested on different grounds, the Bagrut system has remained unchanged for the last 15 years. On February 2007, the ministry of education announced the introduction of a new compulsory Bagrut subject: science studies. The new subject will contains subjects from physics, chemistry and biology.