Exams 2023 – Registration is Open

Online registration for the Unified National Examinations, Unified Masters Exam and Student Grant Competition started today at 10:00 AM. Eligible applicants should register at online.naec.ge until the 3rd of April 18:00 PM.

The Unified National Examinations are centralized, high-stakes and computer based. The whole process is standardized, every procedure including test development, administration, marking and appellation is in compliance with established regulations and applicants are in equal conditions. By means of valid, fair, and reliable educational assessment the NAEC contributes to the improvement of the quality of education in Georgia.

On Wednesday, the 1st the director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center sat down with media to discuss the registration procedures.

Dr. Sophia Gorgodze encouraged the entrants to pay attention to the registration regulations and deadlines highlighted at the NAEC’s annual “Guideline for Entrants”.

The document includes a list of educational programs, frequently asked questions, news and all the important topics related to the upcoming examination process.

Further information regarding the procedures, fees and other relevant issues are available at www.naec.ge

Information Meetings for Entrants

The National Assessment and Examinations Center continues to host information meetings for university entrants around the country.

On Monday, the 27th, another meeting was held in Kutaisi. University entrants from different schools attended the meeting. The Director of the NAEC Dr. Sophia Gorgodze and Mrs. Maia Gabunia the Head of Examinations Process Management Department delivered the presentation to the guests regarding the admission requirements, registration and other terms and conditions for the upcoming Unified National Exams 2023. The second part of the meeting was dedicated to an interactive Q & A session.

Information meetings or “Open Door Days” are essential part of the NAEC’s annual information campaign. Each year the subject experts as well as the management try their best to meet applicants and cover all of the key topics related to the exams.

It is worth mentioning that the Center held online open door days throughout the pandemic. Currently, luckily, information meetings are held in person. Representatives of the Center have already visited Marneuli, Bolnisi, Gardabani, Mtskheta, Sagarejo and Gurjaani.

Special Report 2022

This is a special year for the National Assessment and Examinations Center as the organization celebrates its 20th anniversary.

For every employee of the Center, this date is memorable, important and meaningful. Despite many obstacles, during its 20 years, the Center was able to initiate one of the most successful reforms in the field of education in Georgia – the Unified National Examinations.
Throughout the years the NAEC has managed to further develop the testing and assessment system and retain the public trust that is really valuable for us.
In this Special Report, we will share what has been achieved during the twenty-year history of the Center, what the challenges associated with the introduction of the first centralized high-stakes examinations were and how the public responded to the reform.

Apart from the introduction of centralized exams in 2005, the other biggest challenge has been holding examinations during the two years of the Coronavirus Pandemic. During the high peaks of Covid-19, our organization proved once again that with the tireless work of our professional team it is possible to achieve the goals even in such arduous circumstances.

In this report, readers will also learn how the exam process is prepared every year and what changed from one year to another.

The Special Report 2022 can be downloaded from hereDownload

“Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe” – Presentation

On Wednesday, the 25th, the presentation of an e-book was held at NAEC. The book “Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe” was prepared based on the materials of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

IEA is an international cooperative of national research institutions, governmental research agencies, scholars, and analysts working to research, understand, and improve education worldwide. PIRLS, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, is one of the core studies of IEA. PIRLS provides internationally comparative data on how well children read and offers educators and policymakers key insights for improving learning and teaching. NAEC has been conducting PIRLS since 2006.

Dr. Gorgodze, along with her colleagues, and the IEA representatives Andrea Netten, Paulína Koršňáková and Laura Cheeseman presented important insights from the book. Primary level teachers attended the presentation which was followed by engaging discussions in two parallel sessions.


In the book, which is dedicated to reading strategies, the example of five countries, including Georgia (Bolnisi Municipality Vill Darbazi Public School & Public School # 2 in Akhalkaki), is given. The book includes the best practices from schools internationally and we are pleased that two schools from Georgia and their practices are among them.

This new resource will help teachers put the latest scientific approaches to reading comprehension into practice. The book is the first in the IEA series which aims to highlight and translate practical information derived from the association’s studies, using the data in a suitable way to give back to teachers.

The book “Putting PIRLS to Use in Classrooms Across the Globe” is available in Georgian.

The First Round of the National School Olympiad

The first round of the National School Olympiad of the 2022-2023 academic year was held electronically from December 9 to December 13.

Any student from grade 7 to grade 12 was eligible to participate remotely anytime during the set dates. The testing time was limited and counted by the special computer program. Tests with different level of difficulty was used in STEM subjects depending on the grades of the participants. However, the same level of difficulty was offered in humanities subjects. The items mostly focused on reasoning and problem solving as well as the general educational background of students.

More than 56 700 students took part in the first round of the of the National School Olympiad including pupils with special educational needs and convicted juveniles.

The second round of the Olympiad will be held in the examination centers and the first 1000 participants with 60% or above in the first round will be eligible. Only the brightest top 50 students in each subject will move to the third round and compete for the national award. Also, the winners of the National School Olympiad will group up for the international Olympiads in the relevant subjects.

The main goal of the Olympiad is to stimulate the learning process and raise the motivation of students.

NAEC is 20 years old! Anniversary conference

On Tuesday, November 22, National Assessment and Examinations Center held a conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of it’s establishment.

The conference was opened by the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli. Long time partners, the representatives of various state agencies, local and international organizations and individuals working in the field of education got together to recall NAEC’s history and hear about the future plans.

The organization, which made a significant contribution to the creation of a fair, transparent assessment system based on meritocratic principles, was founded in Georgia in 2002.

Initially the Center conducted examinations only for university entrants. However, due to hard work and devotion of the team the area of ​​activity expanded soon afterwards.

Currently, NAEC conducts various types of exams, administers international educational research and consults local and foreign partner organizations on assessment and large scale, high stakes examinations.

The Center’s employees, most of whom have been working in the organization since its establishment, recalled the path taken by National Assessment and Examinations Center, the first exam process and the difficulties that accompanied the introduction of the new exam model.


At the conference, the Center also presented a project “Assessment for Development”. The goal of the project is to measure students’ achievements towards the national curriculum and track their progress.

It is worth mentioning that the item development, as well as registration, test delivery and marking is fully electronic. The results are aimed to help students and parents track the progress made during the learning process and get information about the weaknesses and strengths.


The second part of the conference was dedicated to themed discussions and presentations on the following topics:

  • “Assessment for Development”: implementation challenges and results;
  • Challenges related to scientific (STEM) careers and professional choices of 15-year-old students;
  • TIMSS 2019 – analysis of student responses according to content and cognitive areas;
  • Differences and achievement gaps between the students at the primary level in Georgia.

The event concluded with a summary of the discussions.

The Director of the NAEC Dr. Sophia Gorgodze was elected to the IEA Standing Committee

Sophia Gorgodze was elected to the IEA Standing Committee at the General Assembly Meeting sessions that are being held in Split, Croatia between 3-5 October 2022.

IEA International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement is an international cooperative of national research institutions, government research agencies, scholars, and analysts working to evaluate, understand, and improve education worldwide.  More than 60 countries are actively involved in the IEA network, and over 100 education systems participate in their studies.

The IEA Standing Committee (SC) consists of the IEA chair and six General Assembly representatives (elected for a three-year term). The committee serves as a board of directors for both IEA and the IEA Secretariat. She will replace Dr. Zuwaina Saleh Issa Al-Maskari.

Dr. Gorgodze will join current IEA Standing Committee members Mr. Barclay Anstiss, Dr. Thierry Rocher (chair),  Dr. Stephen Provasnik, Dr. Roberto Ricci, Ms. Sophia Gorgodze, Dr. Ines Elezović, and Dr. Maria Axelsson.

Sophia Gorgodze is an experienced education specialist with over 16 years of experience as a teacher, lecturer, education consultant and education projects manager. At Ilia University Ms. Gorgodze has taught different education courses to future school administrators and teachers at BA, MA and PHD level. Ms. Gorgodze worked for the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia at various positions. Most importantly, she held the position of a Director at National Center for Teacher Professional Development in 2007-2010. Ms. Gorgodze holds MA degree in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education and MA degree in American Studies from Tbilisi State University. She earned her Doctoral degree in Education from Ilia State University.

Source

Vocational Exams Have Started

After months of intense exams, three busy days are still ahead for the National Assessment and Examinations Center. Vocational college entrance exams started today at 9AM in 53 exam centers throughout Georgia.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Science Valerian Gobronidze and the Director of the NAEC Sophia Gorgodze visited the examination center located at the Technical University of Georgia and observed the testing process on the spot.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science Valerian Gobronidze and the Director of the NAEC Sophia Gorgodze

This year the NAEC will be hosting 150 applicants with special needs, therefore all of the exam centers are fully equipped accordingly.

Vocational testing will continue until September 8.

On September 7, applicants will be tested in literacy and quantitative literacy, and the general abilities exam will be held on September 7-8.

The maximum score in literacy as well as in quantitative literacy is 30. The minimum competency threshold is 15% of the maximum score. The time for testing is 1 hour and 30 minutes.

As for general abilities or aptitude, the maximum test score is 50, and the time for working on test is 2 hours.

The NAEC has given an opportunity to applicants to take a pre-test online and familiarize themselves with the features of the program and sample items remotely.

In 2022, admission is announced for more than 600 vocational programs. About 24,500 applicants expressed their desire to participate in the exams.

Continue to Study in Georgia

On Thursday, 1st the National Assessment and Examinations Center conducted an exam for applicants who were willing to continue their studies in Georgia.

The NAEC supports Georgian citizens’ endeavors to transfer from foreign universities to Georgian higher educational institutions. Therefore, the organization facilitates such exams twice a year to ensure more flexible schedule and broader opportunities.

The exam started at 12:00 and lasted for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

In order to successfully pass the exam, the examinees should score more than 50% of the maximum points specified for the test (minimum threshold 23 points).

The exam results will be announced as soon as the papers are marked. The results will be available on the website: online.naec.ge. The applicants will be able to access their personal accounts using the password given by the NAEC on an exam day.

The registration dates for the upcoming exam date will be announced later.

2022 University Admission Results

Today marks the beginning of a new era for many young Georgians. After hottest weeks of examination, marking and appellation process, the National Assessment and Examinations Center published the university admission and grant distribution results.

More than 77 percent of the registered applicants – a total of 32,100 enrolled in the universities of their choice.

About 6 550 examinees received a state grant.

Some 1 390 examinees enrolled in Georgian language training programs and more than 200 of them were funded.

Today, during the press briefing, the Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center Dr. Sophia Gorgodze congratulated the applicants and wished good luck in their future endeavors. Dr. Gorgodze also reminded the students that it is necessary to contact the higher education institutions in the coming days to sign the contracts and finalize the paperwork.

Dr. Sophia Gorgodze, Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center

The top six educational programs this year according to the first choice of entrants were: law, psychology, humanities, business administration and healthcare.

The unified national exams of 2022 started on July 4 with the Georgian language and literature exam. 22 examination centers opened throughout Georgia received about 90,000 applicants, including more than 41,000 entrants. In parallel to the main sessions, additional sessions were held for those who tested positive for Covid-19.