"Maxi-oral", "elaborated", "internal commission": words that belonged to the Maturity exam remodeled due to the health emergency and which, therefore, have now retired. With the return to "normality" in everyday life, we also return to the "standard" rules for state exams, welcoming the simplification measures we have seen in recent years. Because it is true that the period of the pandemic has meant closures and inconveniences, but it is also true that Maturity - perhaps - has been easier. Not so much in terms of passed and rejected – all in all unchanged in the pre as in the post-pandemic (except for the exceptional case of the "all admitted" of 2020) – as in terms of final score: the 100 and praise are flocked and, in cascade, the high end of the scores has been more crowded than in the past. The students, therefore, will find themselves at school desks in June to take a complete exam again: first and second test with ministerial tracks, classic oral interview, mixed commission. In terms of score, we will return to give greater weight to the results of the exams than to the school credit. With the final grade that will be assigned by an examination commission composed, half, of external commissioners after that, for three years, the graduates have dealt exclusively with their professors (except the president who has always remained external). The so-called "electronic package", containing the traces of the written tests elaborated by the experts of the Ministry of Education and Merit, will be the inviolable casket of the collective tests and will be accessible to the examination boards only when the start of the individual tests starts, through the disclosure of the password by the MIM. Precisely in light of the many changes, the Skuola.net portal has developed a guide on the Maturità, to take stock of all the fundamental information relating to the exams that await the graduates starting from 21 June 2023.
A "normal" exam starting from the score
The return to normality, as mentioned, brought the exam back to the reference standards, in particular to dl 62/17, which came into force with the 2019 Maturità. The school credit, i.e. the score assigned on the basis of academic performance during the three-year period, will return to 40 points, compared to 50 in 2022 and 60 in 2020 and 2021 (changes due to the health emergency). Another 60 points will be achievable during the different phases of the exam: 20 points for the first test, 20 for the second and 20 for the oral interview. The maximum final score will remain 100 points out of 100. In addition, the commission will have the right to award 5 bonus points to the candidates with the best performance, provided that they have obtained a school credit of at least 30 points out of 40 and a result in the exam tests equal to 50 points out of 60. The Commissioners and the Chair of the Commission will be responsible for evaluating each candidate's tests, assigning a score using national evaluation grids. This year, as mentioned, the examination board will not be composed exclusively of internal teachers, but will have a mixed composition. There will be three internal teachers and as many external teachers, in addition to the president of the commission, also external. Students will then be faced with four out of seven unknown faces during the exam.
The first test kicks off the exam
The first test, as usual, will be that of Italian, set for Wednesday, June 21 at 8:30. The written exam will be, by regulation, similar to that of 2019, the last year in which the "traditional" exam took place. In fact, although already in 2022 the national test was organized, the score had been reduced to 15 points compared to the canonical 20. The Ministry of Education will propose seven tracks divided into three types: two will be related to the analysis of the text, three to the argumentative text and two to the topical theme.
Back to the written address "national"
The next day, Thursday 22 June 2023, students will have to face the second test, specific to their field of study. This is one of the most important novelties of the 2023 Maturity exam compared to the recent past: the traces of the tests will no longer be decided within the examination boards, but will be processed directly by the Ministry of Education in a national key. In addition, to avoid excessively damaging the graduates, in 2022 the writing was assigned a practically symbolic score: 10 points maximum. This year, however, it will be possible to reach up to 20. The second written test, then, this year concerns a single discipline characterizing the various fields of study, chosen by the Ministry of Education and Merit with a special ordinance issued at the end of January. The Ministry, to tell the truth, in some addresses could have chosen the path of the multidisciplinary track (on several characterizing subjects) but probably avoided so as not to further complicate the life of the students. For example, at the classical high school there will be the Latin test; to the Scientific that of Mathematics; the sales technician will be Business Economics, and so on.
Oral exam, last step of the State exam
The last step of the 2023 Maturity exam is represented by the oral interview, which will be held a few days after the written tests. This time interval allows the commissioners to correct the tests and publish the partial results. Unlike the written tests, there is no common date for the whole of Italy for the start of the interviews. The calendar of oral exams will be established by the individual commissions in the plenary meeting on June 19, during which the class and the alphabetical letter of the surname of the candidates who will start the interviews will also be drawn. A calendar will then be prepared, which may include a maximum of 5 candidates per day. Many schools could start oral interviews as early as June 26, the Monday following the written tests. With regard to the oral, the legislation on the exam provides for a series of phases in the construction of the interviews: the first must lead to the discussion of a multidisciplinary discourse starting from the materials selected by the commission (such as a document, a text, a project); a space will also be dedicated to the presentation of the PCTO experience (Paths for Transversal Skills and Guidance) and to the verification of Civic Education skills. In the event that one or more candidates are unable to take the written tests on the days established due to force majeure, they will be able to recover them in the supplementary session of the exam, starting from July 5th. If also on this occasion they are unable to participate due to further impediments, candidates may request to take one or more tests of the State exam in an extraordinary session. In order to do so, they must submit an application to the president by the day following the absence, and the commission and the relevant regional school office will make a decision on the requests. The Ministry will then establish the times and methods for the examination in session
