"At this very moment, approximately one-third of the written exams taken by candidates for the Pan-Cyprian Examinations have been graded, entered into the computer system, and are considered complete," Dr. Socrates Mylonas, Chief Education Officer and Head of the Examinations Service at the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Youth, told CNA.

“One-third of the written exams are still in various stages of grading, entry, and verification, and we have the final third, which is in the early stages of grading,” he added.

The Pan-Cyprian Exams concluded yesterday, Friday, with the Common Core Mathematics exam. Responding to a related question, Mr. Mylonas said that “everything went smoothly,” without any major problems, adding that there are 21,000–22,000 exam papers, which are graded by two graders.

When asked to comment on the accommodations that were provided, Mr. Mylonas said that the Special Committee for Accommodations, established by the legislation governing the Pancyprian Examinations, operates in accordance with that legislation and provided candidates with a wide range of accommodations depending on each candidate’s needs.

“These may include an extension of time—which is the very issue that has been the subject of discussion in recent days. It could be short breaks, or other accommodations, such as the option for a test-taker to take the exam alone in a separate room, if they have a specific need, or in a location other than the testing center, such as a hospital or even at home. “So, certain issues that were examined by the Committee have been addressed, and this specific accommodation has been approved,” he added.

As Mr. Mylonas noted, there are numerous accommodations available.

“One can find them in a relevant circular that we issued as the Examinations Service, along with the announcement of the accommodations and the candidate information sheets that were provided to the candidates before the exams,” he added.

Regarding the specific issue that received public attention—the granting of additional time to a number of candidates—Mr. Mylonas said that the Special Committee reviewed several such cases, but as a rule, this accommodation was granted to candidates who requested the extra time. He explained that in these cases, this accommodation had been granted in advance by the District Committees for Special Education and Training, as children receiving special education, following a thorough evaluation that had been conducted previously.

“In other words, this is not something that has just appeared now in the Pan-Cyprian Examinations, but an accommodation that students have been receiving over time, possibly even from previous grades, and perhaps as far back as middle school. The Special Committee on Accommodations granted five such accommodations island-wide, namely, an extension of time for candidates who had not previously been approved by the District Committees, and this concerns children with very serious health problems. In Paphos specifically, where this issue was raised, one such case had been approved. “So, to be clear, I would like to state that this specific accommodation was granted to children who had already secured it beforehand,” he noted.

Regarding the current procedure following the completion of the Pan-Cyprian exams, Mr. Mylonas said that the written exams are collected at the Examination Service building. “Each exam paper is graded by two independent graders,” he continued, noting that the candidates’ names are concealed and are revealed only after the grading process has been completed by all graders.

“Furthermore, each grader grades independently and does not see the score given by the previous grader,” so the first grader’s score is concealed before it is given to the second grader for evaluation, he added.

He also noted that in the event of a discrepancy exceeding 10% after the scores of the two graders are revealed and entered into their computerized system, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation governing the Pan-Cyprian Examinations, a re-grader is called in, who also submits his or her score. “According to the law, the final score in this case is, in essence, the average of the three graders,” he added.

Mr. Mylonas said that at this stage, the grading process for the first few days’ exams has already begun. “As you can imagine, for courses such as Modern Greek—which has a very large number of candidates and a written exam that requires special attention during grading—the process is still underway, but we’ve made significant progress. The same goes for other subjects that were administered later. As of now, approximately one-third of the written exams have been graded, entered into the computer system, and are considered complete. Another one-third of the exams are currently at various stages of grading, entry, and verification, and the final third is in the early stages of grading. “We hope that our procedures will be completed according to the schedule we announced earlier, that is, around July 24,” he said.

Next, he said, they will announce both the written exam scores and the spots that candidates have secured, based on the applications they submitted to the universities of Cyprus.

“And that is when the process begins for those who have expressed interest in securing spots at Greek universities. A relevant announcement will be issued there so they can proceed with the application process for a spot at a Greek university. “I just want to remind the applicants and the parents of applicants who are students that these exams are essentially placement exams,” he added.

Therefore, Mr. Mylonas noted, “whereas parents may once have thought that their children found a particular written exam demanding or even difficult, I want them to remember that all candidates faced the same level of difficulty.”