🇲🇰 North Macedonia
This page describes how schools in North Macedonia grade pupils, from the first year of primary school (year 1, about age 6–7) to the end of upper secondary, and how to build the same system in MarkBook. Back to Find Your Country.
Check the current rules
This description comes from public sources (ministry pages, national laws, Eurydice) read in October 2026. Rules change with reforms, and schools often have local rules. Check the current official text for anything your school reports to the ministry.
How pupils are graded
Before year 1: Pre-school (kindergarten) is not graded and is not part of the 9-year primary; school starts at about age 5 years 8 months.
| Years | Stage | Scale | Pass | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Прв период на основното образование, I-III одделение (primary, first period) | Descriptive marks only during the year; descriptive half-year report and descriptive end-of-year certificate. The text states which knowledge standards the pupil has reached. | Pupils are normally promoted automatically. | Written description |
| 4-6 | Втор период, IV-VI одделение (primary, second period) | Descriptive marks during the year and in the half-year report; numerical 1-5 marks on the end-of-year certificate, with overall success. | 2 (доволен) | School decides |
| 7-9 | Трет период, VII-IX одделение (lower secondary within 9-year primary) | 1-5, 5 best, during the year and on reports | 2 (доволен) | Whole-number marks |
| 10-13 | Средно образование - гимназија, стручно, уметничко (upper secondary) | 1-5, 5 best | 2 (доволен) | Whole-number marks |
Values in Втор период, IV-VI одделение (primary, second period)
| Value | Local word | English |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | одличен | Excellent |
| 4 | многу добар | Very good |
| 3 | добар | Good |
| 2 | доволен | Sufficient |
| 1 | недоволен | Insufficient (fail) |
The year. Two half-years (полугодија). Written report at the end of the first half-year (around end of January) and the year-end certificate in June. Corrective exams in June and/or August.
Averages and rounding. Annual marks per subject are set by the teacher using assessment criteria and standards prepared by the Bureau for Development of Education. Overall success (општ успех) is determined from the annual marks of all subjects at the end of the year. I could not confirm an official minimum number of marks per term or the exact average bands; the usual regional practice (5 from 4.50, 4 from 3.50, 3 from 2.50, 2 from 1.50) is not confirmed for North Macedonia.
Passing the year. Primary I-V (Eurydice: I-V): pupils do not repeat, except by proposal of parents or teacher approved by the teachers' assembly. Primary VI-IX and secondary: up to two failing marks lead to remedial exams (June/August) with supplementary teaching of at least 30% of the subject's hours (primary); failing after them, or more than two failing marks, means repeating the year. A pupil may repeat the same year once (TIMSS). Excellent pupils may complete two years in one.
Conduct. Behaviour (поведение) is assessed as примерно (exemplary), добро (good) or незадоволително (unsatisfactory) per Eurydice for secondary. Whether it counts in the average was not confirmed (normally not).
Differences between regions or school types. National system. Schools teach in Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish or Serbian with the same scale. Behaviour is assessed in public schools (Eurydice). Vocational schools end with a final exam instead of the state matura in shorter tracks.
Common practice that is not official. Teachers often score tests in points with their own conversion tables and keep +/- or activity notes. Not official.
National exams.
- Национално оценување (national assessment) (year 3, 5 and 9 (per the 2020 Concept)): Not confirmed; language and mathematics literacy
- Државна матура (State Matura) (year 13): Marks 1-5; external part standardised (scale details not confirmed)
- Училишна матура (School Matura) (year 13): Marks 1-5
Words you will meet
оценка (mark), описна оценка (descriptive mark), бројчана оценка (numerical mark), годишна оценка (annual mark), општ успех (overall success), полугодие (half-year), поведение (behaviour), свидетелство (certificate), извештај (report), поправен испит (remedial/corrective exam), државна матура / училишна матура (state / school matura).
Set it up in MarkBook
Scale 'MK 1-5' (5 одличен ... 1 недоволен, points = number, pass at 2) and scale 'MK behaviour' (примерно, добро, незадоволително; no points). For years 1-3 use only comment/descriptive columns per half-year and a descriptive year-end column. For years 4-6 use descriptive columns during the year and the half-year, and one numerical 1-5 annual column. For years 7-9 and secondary use numerical mark columns per half-year, a teacher-entered half-year mark, a calculated mean (two decimals) as guidance and a teacher-entered annual mark. Overall success: calculated mean of annual marks, two decimals.
The scales, ready to copy
These are the scales as MarkBook shows them in the scale editor. Build yours with the same grades, descriptions and weights. Each scale links to the recipe that explains it on Set Up Any Grading System.
North Macedonia · 1–5
Attainment scale for years 4-6 (Втор период, IV-VI одделение (primary, second period)). Build it in Configuration → Assessment → Attainment scales. Recipe: Whole-number marks.
| Grade | Description | Weight | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | одличен · Excellent | 5 | yes |
| 4 | многу добар · Very good | 4 | yes |
| 3 | добар · Good | 3 | yes |
| 2 | доволен · Sufficient | 2 | yes |
| 1 | недоволен · Insufficient (fail) | 1 | no |
Before you rely on this page
Confidence: medium
Medium confidence, and the core sources were not opened (the Law on Primary Education and the assessment rulebook). The mapping of periods to grades comes from TIMSS. The bands, the promotion rules and the Macedonian mark words are not confirmed. Mark this country 'to be checked'. I could not open the Law on Primary Education or the assessment rulebook text. The mapping of the three periods to grades (I-III, IV-VI, VII-IX) is from TIMSS; Eurydice gives the rules per period without naming grades. Exact average bands for overall success, the minimum number of marks per term, the national-assessment scale and the State Matura scoring are not confirmed. Macedonian words for the marks are the standard terms but were not seen in an official text. The promotion rule differs slightly between sources (Eurydice: no repetition in I-V; TIMSS: lower grades I-V automatically promoted).