The Ministry of Education and Science plans to oblige 4th-grade students to take the State Final Attestation (DPA)

Starting from 2027, the state final certification for 4th-grade students will take place in the form of external independent evaluation and will become mandatory for primary school students. This is reported by UNN with reference to the order of the Ministry of Education and Science No. 1152 of August 15, 2025.

Details

According to the order, the Ministry of Education and Science approved an action plan for the approbation of the model for conducting state final certification of persons completing primary education in the form of external independent evaluation and its subsequent implementation.

The Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment, together with regional centers for educational quality assessment, is instructed to conduct an approbation of the model for conducting the State Final Attestation (DPA) in the form of External Independent Evaluation (ZNO) in primary school in 2026, and starting from 2027, to take measures to prepare the Ukrainian and regional centers for educational quality assessment to participate in conducting the DPA in the form of ZNO in primary school.

According to the action plan for the approbation of the model for conducting state final certification of individuals, the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment is instructed to:

• November 2025 - prepare and publish a report on the results of the pilot state final certification of primary school graduates in the form of external independent evaluation conducted in 2025;
• December 2025 - prepare and submit for approval a draft calendar plan for the organization and conduct of the approbation of the DPA model in the form of external independent evaluation in 2026 (using a special educational platform and a sample of 10,000 students);
• February 2026 - form and submit for approval a list of general secondary education institutions participating in the approbation of the DPA in the form of ZNO;
• February - April 2026 - develop instructional and methodological materials for conducting the approbation of the DPA in the form of ZNO for participating institutions;
• March - April 2026 - deploy (installation, configuration, and launch) a special educational platform for use by participating institutions;
• March - April 2026 - conduct training sessions for staff of participating institutions on working with the special educational platform;
• April - May 2026 - conduct the approbation of the DPA in the form of ZNO in participating institutions;
• August - October 2026 - prepare proposals for improvements to the special educational platform, provide them to the Ministry of Education and Science for organizing relevant work;
• September - October 2026 - prepare and publish a report on the results of the approbation of the DPA in the form of ZNO.

The Ministry of Education and Science is instructed to:

• September - December 2025 - organize and implement measures for the development of a special educational platform to ensure the conduct of the DPA in the form of external independent evaluation;
• February - March 2026 - prepare the special educational platform as a tool for use during the approbation of the DPA in the form of ZNO and transfer it to the UCEQA for further use;
• October 2026 - prepare and submit for approval amendments to regulatory legal acts regarding the standardization of the DPA in the form of ZNO.

Recall

Tetyana Vakulenko, Director of the UCEQA, stated that a return to ZNO is not yet possible due to the war and logistical difficulties for applicants from occupied territories. The NMT retains features of ZNO but has a computer format.