National Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva requested urgent measures to guarantee the rights of high school graduates during the upcoming state matriculation exams, following a decision by the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) to annul provisions of Ordinance No. 11 related to the evaluation of results. This was announced by the Ombudsman's press center.
In a statement to the acting Minister of Education, Prof. Sergey Ignatov, she expressed concern that the situation could jeopardize the normal conduct of the matriculation exams due to the lack of clear and transparent procedures to replace the annulled texts.
The Ombudsman points out that the matriculation exams are of key importance for the future education and professional realization of high school graduates, therefore the procedures must comply with the principles of legality, transparency, and protection of citizens' rights.
Delcheva recommends that the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) take timely action to normatively regulate the situation and restore legal certainty in the conduct of the matriculation exams, so as to guarantee the right of high school graduates to access their evaluated exam papers through a clear and equally applicable procedure throughout the country, including the possibility of reviewing the grades under clear rules, deadlines, and guarantees of objectivity.
In her statement, Delcheva also recommends that the Ministry ensure transparency of the process of conducting, evaluating, and announcing the results of the current exam session, as well as provide timely and public information to students, parents, and pedagogical specialists regarding the measures taken.
Last week, in connection with a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court of April 22, 2026, which annuls provisions of Ordinance number 11 on the evaluation of student learning results, the MES published a draft amendment to the ordinance for public discussion.