One in ten graduating students benefited from crossing out a subject
Ten percent of all final exam students passed this year because one subject could be crossed out. Mathematics was most popular in VMBO because it was not included in the final list. At havo this was the case with history and vwo students most often threw economics out of the package.
Picture: Type tank
This is evident from the Exam monitor drawn up by the Education Executive Agency. Outgoing education minister Arie Slob sent the results to the House of Representatives at the end of last week.
The central final exams continued this year, last year deleted Slob them because of the corona crisis. Pupils could, however, make use of special measures in 2021, such as staggering final exams, an extra resit or dropping one subject that is not part of the core subjects. These measures were intended to compensate students for the difficult circumstances due to corona.
To be deleted
At 14,2 percent, the percentage of students who have passed through the cancellation of a subject is the largest in VMBO mixed theoretical learning path. In total, DUO notes that there are 7306 students. This is followed by pre-vocational secondary vocational education (VMBO) with 12,9 percent (3372 students), and HAVO with 8,2 percent (4421 students). In VWO this was 7,3 percent (2847). The percentage was lowest in VMBO basic vocational education at 5,9 percent (898 pupils).
However, it is impossible to determine what pupils would have done if these measures had not been taken
DUO also looked at which subjects students deleted. This differs per education sector. Mathematics was most often excluded from the final list in VMBO. At havo/vwo it was not possible to drop mathematics because it is a compulsory core subject there. Vwo students dropped economics the most, followed by biology and German. History was number one in havo, followed by biology and economics. After mathematics, in VMBO English was a subject that pupils most often crossed out.
'Strategic learning effort' - in other words: calculated learning behavior - also plays a role in the average final grades for subjects, sees DUO. Pupils who knew that they would benefit from the scheme because of their school exam results achieved 'relatively poorer marks in the subjects that were ultimately not taken into account', writes DUO. According to the researchers, it is also logical that the impact of the regulation is greater on the marks of the central final exams and not on the school exams. 'Strategic learning efforts mainly play a role in central exams.' It Education magazine published a story about this.
Strategic learning commitment also plays a role in the average final grades for subjects
No conclusions
In his letter to the House of Representatives, Slob explicitly refers to this 'targeted effort' among final-year students: 'However, it is impossible to determine what students would have done if these measures had not been taken.' It is therefore not possible to draw conclusions about the skills of the final exam students, follow-up research will follow. The DUO researchers also mention this nuance: 'It makes it impossible to accurately calculate the effect of these measures.'
Resit
The extra resit, one of the other measures, had less impact. A small group of 0,5 percent of the students passed through an extra resit and the cancellation of a subject. The group that only opted for a second resit is negligible.
This year the pass rate was 94,8 percent. That is lower than in 2020 when 98,7 percent obtained a diploma. In 2020 the school exam scores were remarkably higher than in previous years, it was the year in which the central final exam was scrapped and in which the result of the school exams determined whether a student obtained his diploma. The figures for the school exams in 2021 were lower for almost all types of school than in 2019, DUO sees.
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