Weather chaos forces special Bacalaureat session as 17 students sit reserve exams in Romania

Weather disruptions

Romania's summer Bacalaureat session was thrown off course by extreme weather. The mandatory profile exam, originally set for 30 June, was postponed by one day due to a red heatwave alert. On 1 July, violent storms then caused travel chaos, delaying some candidates. The Ministry of Education activated a standard procedure allowing latecomers to sit the exam at 13:00 with reserve subjects.

The 13:00 sitting is a standard procedure, provided for in the exam methodology, for cases where candidates are delayed for reasons beyond their control.

Seventeen candidates (11 from Bucharest) used this option. The ministry stressed that exam centre presidents could request reserve papers so that no student lost the chance to take the test.

Participation and exam structure

A total of 121,147 candidates sat the mandatory profile exam out of 124,334 registered, a participation rate of 97.4%. Another 3,187 were absent and 18 were disqualified for fraud or attempted fraud.

Each written paper consists of three subjects, each worth 30 points, plus 10 points awarded ex officio. Candidates have three hours from the moment the papers are distributed, with access to exam halls closing at 08:30 for a 09:00 start.

Math exam difficulty

Math teacher Denisa Tănăsescu described the morning subjects as accessible and in line with the pattern of the last decade. The reserve variant, however, was slightly tougher.

The morning exam was a bit gentler for the Maths-Computer Science students. For example, the function in Subject III, exercise 1, had a radical and a logarithm in its composition. So more knowledge was tested than in the morning, when they only had to solve a rational function, with no degree of difficulty.

She noted that the hardest parts, as every year, were subpoints c) of Subjects II and III, which require creativity and separate the very well-prepared students from those who only master the basics. A system of equations in Subject II also tripped up many candidates because it demanded an extra idea beyond the standard methods.

Upcoming exams and results

The session continues on 2 July with the elective subject. Real-profile candidates choose from computer science, biology, physics or chemistry, while humanities-profile candidates sit geography, logic, psychology, economics, sociology or philosophy. The final written exam, for graduates who studied in a minority language, is on 3 July.

First results will be published on 7 July, with appeals accepted from 14:00 to 18:00 that day and on 8–9 July. Final results after appeals are due on 13 July. A second Bacalaureat session is scheduled for July–August, with registration from 14 to 21 July and written exams starting on 10 August.