A high-level meeting on the new National Baccalaureate and the forthcoming changes in secondary education is taking place today, Tuesday, at 12 noon at the Maximos Mansion, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Participating in the meeting are Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and Minister of Education Sofia Zacharaki.

The government initiative marks the official start of the institutional and social dialogue on a reform that touches the very core of the Greek educational system: the way Upper Secondary School (Lyceum) functions and its connection with entry into Higher Education. It is an intervention expected to trigger intense debate, as it redefines the role of the school and the weight of examinations in students’ educational paths.

The timeline and the goal of the reform
According to government planning, the changes will not be implemented immediately. The new system is expected to concern students who will attend the first grade of Upper Secondary School in the 2027–2028 school year, while its full implementation is scheduled two years later.

The central goal of the Ministry of Education is the substantive upgrading of Upper Secondary School and its decoupling from the one-dimensional logic of preparation for the Panhellenic Examinations. As government sources point out, the current model has turned the Lyceum into a “waiting room” for university, financially burdening thousands of families due to the extensive use of private tutoring.

National Body of Evaluators and reliability control
A key element of the new plan is the creation and operation of a National Body of Evaluators. As Minister of Education Sofia Zacharaki has stated, the Body will be staffed by educators with long experience in secondary education, who have in-depth knowledge of examination procedures as well as students’ learning trajectories, school operation, and classroom dynamics.

Within this framework, the marking of written papers in in-school examinations will be carried out by the teachers themselves; however, all scripts will be digitized and subject to sample checks by external evaluators. The Ministry is considering the introduction of interventions in cases of over-marking or when the oral grade deviates from the written grade by more than five points.

What the draft provides for the National Baccalaureate
The draft prepared by the Minister of Education, which will shortly be put to public consultation, includes a series of substantive changes:

– For promotion examinations in the first and second grades of Upper Secondary School, all exam questions will be selected by lottery from the Question Bank.

– The Minimum Admission Threshold (EBE), introduced during the term of Minister Niki Kerameus, is abolished, as it is considered no longer necessary under the new system.

– An admission threshold of 10 is established in the National Baccalaureate, as a prerequisite for claiming a place in universities.

The General Grade Point Average for entry into Higher Education will derive partly from the National Baccalaureate grade (weighted 20% for the first grade of Upper Secondary School, 30% for the second, and 50% for the third) and partly from special baccalaureate examinations in four subjects per scientific field, conducted at national level.

The weighting coefficients per subject, as defined by university departments, will continue to apply.

At the same time, the Minister of Education intends to ask Rectors, Deans, and Department Chairs to submit proposals to strengthen the role of universities in setting the conditions for student admission.

The five pillars of the new Upper Secondary School
Sofia Zacharaki has made it clear that the National Baccalaureate is not a simple change in examination procedures, but part of a comprehensive educational strategy, based on five main pillars: educational content, school life, teacher training, school and digital infrastructure, and finally the governance of the educational system with clear roles and accountability.

Committee of Wise Persons and the search for consensus
A decisive role in shaping the final proposals will be played by the Committee of Wise Persons, which the government intends to establish. As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated in a recent television interview on Alpha, the goal is for a comprehensive proposal with broader cross-party acceptance to be submitted within the next six to nine months, noting that both PASOK and SYRIZA have already expressed positive positions in principle.

The National Baccalaureate is, moreover, included among the ten key legislative initiatives of the Unified Government Policy Plan for 2026, confirming that for the government it constitutes one of the biggest bets in the field of education.