Luxembourg's Ministry of Education, Children and Youth has announced the start of the European Baccalaureate exams on Monday 5 June 2023, with 69 students from the first class of the Ecole Internationale Differdange et Esch-sur-Alzette (EIDE) among the 2,653 who attend European schools.
The EIDE opened its doors in September 2016 as part of efforts to diversify the school offer. EIDE was the first public accredited European school created on Luxembourg soil. Five others followed suit: in Mondorf-les-Bains, Clervaux, Junglinster, Mersch and Luxembourg City. The schools follow the programmes and diplomas of the European schools and report directly to the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth. Registration is free and open to everyone.
The class of 2023 EIDE baccalaureate holders include 36 young women and 33 young men and no less than 24 nationalities, including twelve Luxembourgish students, eighteen French and 20 Portuguese. 41 of the 69 students taking the baccalaureate have completed their entire secondary education at the EIDE.
Pupils in the final class (S7) will take five written tests: two in languages, one in mathematics and two in specialisation subjects. Three oral tests will follow: in a first language, in a second language or history/geography in a second language and in a domain of their choice.
The final grade will be made up of 50% of the year's grade, 35% of the written exam grades and 15% of the oral exam grades.
The programmes and examinations for the European Baccalaureate are the same in all the European schools (thirteen type I schools such as the European Schools Luxembourg I and II, in Luxembourg Kirchberg and Mamer, and 22 approved schools, such as the EIDE) and take place on the same date and time. The questionnaires are proposed by teachers from different schools, reviewed by other teachers and the inspector in charge of the concerned subject. The latter ultimately chooses the selected questionnaire. Apart from the language tests, the questionnaires are translated into all the languages taught in the European schools. The questions are, therefore, the same for all language sections.
The written tests are corrected twice (once within the school attended by the pupil and once externally), on the basis of anonymised copies. In the event of a discrepancy in the grade, a third corrector intervenes.
