Today, graduates are sitting for the state matriculation exam in Bulgarian language and literature using "Variant 8" consisting of 41 tasks. The exam variant was drawn this morning at 6:00 AM at the Ministry of Education and Science.

According to information from the Ministry of Education and Science, the variant was generated from 5,859,375 possible combinations. 13,800 invigilators are engaged in conducting the exam, and the graduates are distributed across 783 schools and 4,320 exam halls throughout the country.

"Graduates should be at the schools around 8:00 AM, as the state matriculation exam begins at 8:30 AM," reminded Evgeniya Kostadinova, Director of the "Content of Pre-school and School Education" Directorate at the Ministry of Education and Science.

Every student must carry an identity document and an admission slip for the exam. The slip can also be presented in electronic format.

There is no change in the format of the test for the state matriculation exam in Bulgarian language and literature. The exam includes a total of 41 tasks: 22 multiple-choice, 16 short-answer, 2 extended open-ended, and one task for creating an argumentative text – an interpretative essay or an essay.

The matriculation exam tests the graduates' knowledge and skills in grammar, spelling, vocabulary, skills for creating their own text, as well as extracting and comprehending information from various sources.

The Bulgarian language and literature exam is structured in three parts. The first includes 23 closed-ended and open-ended questions and lasts 60 minutes. The second part contains 17 questions, for which another 60 minutes are allotted. In the third part, which lasts 120 minutes, graduates must write an interpretative essay or an essay.