Research

Educational Achievements for 2007-2008

About 80% of 17-year-olds are still in high school, about 45% pass the matriculation exams and about 40% receive high school diplomas that qualify them for college entrance

The Adva Center annual update of the report, Percentage of Students Passing Matriculation Exams, by Locality 2007-2008, was released today. The report includes localities with at least 10,000 residents. Below are some of the major findings;

· In 2008, only 44.4% of Israeli 17-year-olds passed the matriculation exams. This means that more than half of 17-year-olds – 55.6% – did not take or pass the exams.

· 13.2% of the matriculation certificates were not at the level required for college entrance; thus only 38.6% of 17-year-olds qualified for college admission.

· Looking at all 17-year-olds, it was found that 79.2% were still in high school; 44.4% of 17-year-olds receive matriculation certificates and only 38.5% are eligible for college admission.

· In practice, not everyone eligible goes to college. Of those who completed their senior year in 2000, only 31.9% had enrolled in a university or academic college by 2008.

· Since 2005, there has been a decrease in the proportion of high school graduates passing their matriculation exams.

· Success rates of high school seniors in the matriculation exams are correlated with the socio-economic status of the localities in which they live: the highest success rate – 67.1% – was found in affluent localities, and the lowest in Bedouin localities in the Negev – 26.6%. The success rate for Jewish development towns is 46.9% and that for Arab localities – 32.4%.