Estonia's national exam results remain stable, but mathematics gap for Russian-speaking students widens

According to the Education and Youth Board (Harno), the 2025 national exam results are largely similar to the previous year, with average scores rising or remaining unchanged in most subjects. However, concerns are rising over a 3.7-point decline in the specialized mathematics exam results and a deepening gap between Estonian and Russian-speaking students' mathematics performance, which has grown to 12.49 percentage points.

The Education and Youth Board (Harno) has released the consolidated results of the 2025 national exams, showing that a total of 12,391 candidates took the exams this year, an increase of 700 compared to the previous year. Of these, 9,790 are secondary school students, 1,953 are vocational education students, and 716 have previously completed lower secondary education.

Overall picture: stability, but a decline in mathematics

"This year's national exam results are largely similar to last year, and there have been no significant changes. Overall, a slight upward trend is evident, but this year the specialized mathematics exam result declined by 3.7 points," said Alge Ilosaar, head of Harno's assessment centre. He added that the inclusion of a formula sheet in the exam booklet did not produce the expected improvement in results: "This confirms that what really matters is the ability to understand formulas and apply them correctly."

The specialized mathematics exam was taken by 4,855 candidates and the advanced mathematics exam by 5,670 candidates. The average score for the specialized course exam is 35.4 points and for the advanced course 59.2 points. The advanced course result rose 0.9 points compared to the previous year, while the specialized course result fell 3.7 points.

In total, 81 students achieved 100 points on the national exam this year (85 last year). The most perfect scores in mathematics came from Gustav Adolf Grammar School (10), followed by Hugo Treffner Grammar School (7) and Tallinn Real School (6).

Gap in Russian-speaking students' results widens

Harno's greatest concern is the widening disparity between Estonian and Russian-speaking students' mathematics exam results. "As in the previous year, there is growing concern about an expanding gap between Russian and Estonian-speaking students' mathematics exam results. The difference between those taking the exam in Estonian and Russian has widened to 12.49 percentage points," said Ilosaar. He also emphasized that fewer than half of students who took the English language exam as a second language achieved a B1 language level.

Ilosaar also highlighted the polarization problem in lower secondary mathematics exams: almost one-third of candidates achieved 90-100 per cent, while nearly a quarter fell below 50 per cent. "This polarization is concerning," he said, adding that a thorough study of teacher profiles and methodologies would be needed for in-depth analysis of the problems.

Solution lies in teacher training

Hele Liiv-Tellmann, senior expert in the curriculum area at the Ministry of Education, stressed that teacher competence and methodology are key to teaching mathematics. "We can improve exam results by training teachers. At the same time, we know it is very difficult for teachers to learn new methods when old methods have become ingrained," she said. Liiv-Tellmann added that the school itself and cooperation with parents also play an important role.

Language exams and English

The English language national exam was taken by 5,384 candidates, with an average exam score of 70.4 points, virtually the same as the previous year (70.5). In total, 84.2 per cent of exam takers achieved the B1 or B2 language level expected by the curriculum. The international Cambridge C1 Advanced exam was taken by 4,920 students, of whom 92.5 per cent achieved C1 or above, showing that a significant proportion of students exceed the target set by the curriculum by the end of secondary school.

Ilosaar also drew attention to a writing skills problem: "Based on the English language exam results, it can be said that students have a good level of listening and speaking skills, but writing requires improvement. The same applies to the Estonian language exam: we are asking for argumentative essays, but we are getting descriptive narratives."