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The procedures for nationally conducting diagnostic tests for students of the 6th grade of Primary schools and 3rd grade of High schools, are determined by a decision of the Deputy Minister of Education Z. Makris, which was published in the Government Gazette.

Article 1

Conducting national level diagnostic tests for the 2022-2023 school year

1. In the school year 2022-2023, diagnostic exams will be conducted at the national level for the students of the 6th grade of the Primary schools and the 3rd grade of the High Schools in subjects contained in the curricula of the cognitive subjects of the Modern Greek Language and Mathematics.

2. The purpose of the above examinations is to draw conclusions regarding the course of the implementation of the Study Programs and the degree of achievement of the expected learning outcomes at the national level with the Regional Directorates of Education as the basic unit of analysis. Specifically, they focus on the valid and reliable diagnosis of students' knowledge, abilities and skills in Language - Text Comprehension and Mathematics, according to the expected learning outcomes, as stated or described in the relevant Study Programs.

3. The results of the exams are anonymous and are not taken into account by the teachers when evaluating the performance of the students in the specific courses.

Article 2

Organization and coordination of national level diagnostic examinations

1. For the preparation and supervision of the examinations, an unpaid Scientific Committee has been set up by decision of the Deputy Minister of Education and Religion (Β' 1295/2022), after a proposal (under data F.13/58/14-03-2022 ) of the Authority for Quality Assurance in Primary and Secondary Education (A.DI.P.P.D.E.) and decision (deed 12/03-03-2022) of the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP). The Scientific Committee updates the existing theoretical framework, following a recommendation from its President, for the conduct of diagnostic tests and has the supervision of:

(a) The updating of the Guide with specifications for preparing closed-type and open-type short-answer questions,

(b) the updating of closed-type questions and the configuration of open-type short answers and the selection of subjects, in accordance with what is provided for in the Study Programs of the teaching subjects of Language and Mathematics, as well as the accompanying material of the exams, (c) the procedure performing diagnostic tests and supporting their implementation.

2. A Subject Repository (Subject Bank) is created, under the responsibility and supervision of the Scientific Committee, which is posted on a special platform of the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP). The topics remain confidential, except for the publication of indicative topics, which are announced earlier than the exams and to which the entire educational community has access.

Article 3

National level implementation of diagnostic tests in selected school units

1. During the 2022-2023 school year, the exams at the national level are implemented in a representative sample of students, which is defined as at least 6,000 students for the 6th grade and up to 6,000 students for the 3rd grade of high school.

2. The participating school units (at least 600 in number) are selected based on stratified sampling, following a relevant recommendation of the Scientific Committee, with the aim of collecting representative data for the entire country and are defined by ministerial decision.

3. The Director of the school unit is responsible for conducting and supervising the exams at the school, as well as appointing two (2) teachers as supervisors for each room that participates in the exams, except in the case of single-seat schools, where a supervisor is defined. The Education Directors have the supervision in the schools of their Directorate and the obligation to solve any procedural problems. In the exceptional case that a selected school unit is unable to take part in the exams for reasonable reasons (e.g. local celebrations/holidays, serious illness), it is replaced under the responsibility of the Education Directorate by another school unit with the same characteristics and the Scientific Committee and the Group are informed Work at least 10 days before the exam.

4. The exams are held simultaneously in the selected school units, on a day and time to be determined by a decision of the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (Y.PAI.Th.). On the day of the examination, the Scientific Committee of article 2 of this decision conducts an electronic lottery to select the subjects. The topics are sent electronically and, under the responsibility of the Principal of the school unit, they are printed and distributed in paper form to the students.

5. The duration of the examination is set at seventy-five (75) minutes per subject, with an internal short break of thirty (30) minutes. It is also envisaged that the students will fill in a short anonymous questionnaire to collect socio-demographic data after the end of the exam.

6. The students' answers are noted on specially designed forms (answer sheets), which are sent earlier to the schools, in accordance with the aforementioned.

7. The school units' response forms are collected and sent immediately to the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) in order to register the responses in a specially configured database, to which the A.D.I.P.P.D.E. has access.

Article 4

Utilization of the results of the examinations carried out at the national level of a diagnostic nature

1. The Scientific Committee of article 2 of this decision is responsible for processing the data and extracting the results.

2. The results of the diagnostic examinations are used by the Authority for Quality Assurance in Primary and Secondary Education (A.D.I.P.P.D.E.) and the Institute of Education Policy (IEP) to formulate recommendations to the Ministry of Education and Religions, for proposals for improvements in Study Programs, educational materials, teaching methodology, for inclusive and compensatory education approaches, as well as for the development of focused educational activities. Also, proposals for the improvement of the educational policy in Primary and Secondary Education are generally formulated and submitted.