Published on 12 August 2026.

From 1 September 2026, the minimum result required in Grade 9 centralised examinations will rise from 15% to 20%. The new requirement will apply to students taking their exams in the 2026/2027 school year.

Other significant changes came into effect earlier: the centralised foreign-language exam in Grade 9 was discontinued, the registration deadline was extended to 15 January, and the requirements for advanced-level examinations in upper secondary school were revised.

Below, we explain which rules apply in the 2026/2027 school year, how the Latvian language examinations in Grades 9 and 12 are structured, and what families should consider when planning preparation.

Rules for the 2026/2027 school year

The main new requirement from 1 September 2026 is that the Grade 9 pass mark will rise from 15% to 20%. The minimum result in upper secondary education is already 20%, so the requirements at the two stages will become aligned.

The other important rules came into effect earlier and will remain in force in 2026/2027:

There is no longer a centralised foreign-language exam in Grade 9. It has been replaced by a monitoring assessment in English, French or German. Its result does not affect a student's eligibility for the basic education certificate.
Parents of Grade 9 students do not need to submit a separate application for the compulsory examinations. The school registers its students.
Registration for centralised examinations is open until 15 January. At upper secondary level, students select their examinations and levels in the information system.
Selections can be changed no later than eight weeks before the relevant examination.
Upper secondary students are required to take one advanced-level centralised examination instead of two. Four compulsory examinations are required in total.

Examinations and official methodological materials are now administered by VIAA, the State Education Development Agency. This information was previously published by VISC, which means that older links and documents may no longer be current.

Grade 9: how the Latvian exam is structured

The centralised examination is compulsory. Under the 2026 programme it consists of two written sections and one oral section, worth a total of 100 points. In 2026/2027 the oral part has been moved to April and is held as a separate monitoring assessment, so the distribution of points may change: VIAA has not yet published the 2027 programme.

Part 1: analysis of text content and language features. 110 minutes, 50 points. Students work with two texts or text extracts and complete 14–15 tasks. They demonstrate comprehension, analyse language features and apply the conventions of standard written Latvian.

Part 2: discursive writing. 90 minutes, 30 points. Students write a 250–300-word response on one of three topics, using arguments, cultural or literary facts and personal experience.

Part 3: oral presentation. 5–10 minutes, 20 points. Students give a prepared presentation lasting 3–5 minutes, then take part in a conversation with the interviewer and provide developed answers to questions.

The tasks cover four levels of cognitive demand, from locating and identifying information to analysis, evaluation and independent conclusions. The first levels require careful reading; the higher levels require students to work confidently in Latvian rather than translating every thought in their head.

The examination assesses reading, writing, speaking and listening. There is no separate listening paper: listening comprehension is demonstrated during the conversation with the interviewer.

Dates in the 2026/2027 school year. The timetable was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 8 September 2026. The written part of the centralised Latvian examination takes place on 20 May 2027, mathematics on 25 May and the natural sciences on 2 June. The oral part of Latvian has been moved to April 2027 and is held as a separate monitoring assessment, and the exact days have not yet been published. A monitoring assessment in foreign languages also takes place in April.

The 20% pass mark applies to the centralised examinations in Latvian and mathematics. In 2026/2027 the percentage threshold does not apply to the natural sciences examination.

VIAA has not yet published the 2027 examination programme, so check there for the distribution of points and the format of the oral part once it becomes available.

Grade 12: four compulsory examinations

To receive a general upper secondary education certificate, students must take four compulsory centralised examinations: Latvian, mathematics, a foreign language and a natural-sciences subject. At least one examination must be taken at advanced level.

The optimal-level Latvian examination also consists of three parts, but its structure differs from the Grade 9 examination:

analysis of text content and language features: 34% of the result and 80 minutes;
an argumentative essay or discursive response: 46% and 120 minutes;
speaking and interaction: 20%, with 20 minutes for preparation and approximately 10 minutes for the response.

The pass mark at upper secondary level is 20%.

Dates in the 2026/2027 school year. The centralised examination session for the general upper secondary certificate begins on 10 May 2027 and ends on 11 June.

What a 20% pass mark really means

Twenty per cent may sound low, but relying on the minimum alone is risky. The examination assesses several different skills, and strength in one area does not always compensate for weakness in another. A student may understand texts and spoken language but lose many points because they cannot structure a discursive response. Another may speak Latvian in everyday situations while making systematic errors in writing.

The minimum result is not achieved simply by memorising more words. Students need a basic command of reading, writing, speaking, listening and grammar. This is why preparing for only two weeks before the examination rarely solves the problem. Individual rules can be revised in that time, but stable speaking skills and coherent argumentative writing cannot be built so quickly.

Where students most often lose points

According to the official VIAA recommendations for the Grade 9 examination, and based on our teachers’ experience, the following areas most often require focused work:

noun declensions, particularly the fourth and fifth declensions;
definite and indefinite adjective endings;
imperative verb forms;
punctuation in participial constructions and complex sentences;
the structure of discursive writing and the connection between a claim, an argument and an example;
developed answers in the oral part.

Many of these difficulties are not about vocabulary. In everyday speech, people use simpler structures and may not notice their errors, but those errors become immediately visible in written and oral examination tasks.

How much preparation time is needed

The honest answer depends on the student's starting point. If a child understands lessons and speaks Latvian but struggles with writing, several months of regular work on accuracy, argumentation and text structure are usually needed.

If a child does not understand explanations in class, practising only the examination format will not solve the underlying problem. The language must first be brought to a functional level, which may take a year or longer. We discuss this in more detail in our article on how long it takes to learn Latvian to A2 level.

The practical conclusion is simple: preparation should begin in September, not in March. This is particularly important for Grade 9 students in 2026/2027 because the minimum threshold is increasing and the previous margin for error will no longer exist.

For systematic preparation tailored to the examination format, Latvian Easy offers programmes for students in Grades 9 and 11–12. They develop all the required skills and teach students to apply Latvian in specific examination tasks rather than simply memorising rules.

Where to find official information

VIAA, examination programmes, methodological materials, tasks and current timetables: viaa.gov.lv
eksameni.gov.lv, the State Examinations Information System
Likumi.lv, current legislation and registration procedures

Rules and timetables may change, so always check the official information for the relevant school year before registration and before the examination.

In brief

From 1 September 2026, the pass mark for Grade 9 centralised examinations will rise to 20%. The written part of the Grade 9 Latvian examination takes place on 20 May 2027, while the oral part has been moved to April and is held as a monitoring assessment. The upper secondary examination session runs from 10 May to 11 June 2027. The Latvian examination consists of text analysis, discursive writing and an oral section. At upper secondary level, four examinations are compulsory and at least one must be taken at advanced level. Preparation should begin at the start of the school year: the greatest risk is not a lack of individual words, but insufficient practice in writing, grammar, argumentation and speaking.

Latvian language exam in Grades 9 and 12: what changes from 1 September 2026