The average grade in this year's state school-leaving exam is 3.66. Last year it was 3.69. In 2024 it was 3.26. Education Minister Vesna Janevska is pleased the average has held for two years running. The figure is accurate. The question is what it measures.

This year, for the first time, three types of exam were sat - state, vocational and artistic. The state average is 3.62, vocational 3.91, artistic 3.59. The State Examination Centre says this is fairer, because each student was tested on what they actually studied. That's reasonable. But they themselves admit the data will only be comparable from next school year, when the new model is applied for a second time.

The number that says more than the average

In mathematics the average grade is 4.3. In the mother tongue 3.95. In English - 3.18, the lowest average of any subject. That is the one figure in the entire report worth taping to a wall in every ministry.

A school leaver walking out of secondary school with 3.18 in English enters a job market where English isn't an advantage but a requirement. They also enter a university where most specialist literature is in English. If the maths average is 4.3 and English is 3.18, then the system is producing students ready for an exam, but not for what comes after it.

226 annulled tests

For 226 candidates the test was annulled for copying, and they will resit in August. For comparison, 172 were caught last year, and 264 in 2024. So the number goes up and down without a clear trend, and the State Examination Centre attributes that to better organisation and stricter supervision.

If supervision is stricter and more people are being caught than last year, then the likelier explanation is that copying hasn't decreased - only that more of it is being spotted. The difference between "fewer are copying" and "we're catching them better" is fundamental, and the report doesn't make it.

There were 805 appeals filed, or 2.86 percent of students. Of those, 0.95 percent were upheld. Resits begin on 12 August, in four cities and at eight locations, without mobile phones and with invigilators. There were 14,587 students registered for this exam, and 2.39 percent were absent.

Exam results are a key criterion for university admission. Which means these numbers aren't statistics - they're the schedule of somebody's life for the next five years.