Overview
Argentina does not run one national school-leaving exam. Instead, the Ley de Educación Nacional (National Education Law, No. 26.206) sets a single national framework of levels and content that every province and the City of Buenos Aires must follow, while each of the 24 jurisdictions administers its own public and private schools day to day. Schooling is compulsory from age four through the end of secondary school. Students are promoted from grade to grade and awarded their final secondary certificate based on ongoing schoolwork set by their own school and province, not on passing a single external exam.
Who it covers
The framework covers every child and adolescent in Argentina's public and private school system, from Educación Inicial (initial/pre-primary level) through Educación Secundaria (secondary level). Children are enrolled by their parents or guardians at a school in their jurisdiction; there is no separate national registration or entrance exam for basic schooling itself.
Structure
Educación Inicial
Covers children from 45 days old to age five. The last year, for five-year-olds, is compulsory nationwide.
Educación Primaria
Primary school is compulsory and starts at age six. Its length is set by each province: Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chubut, Córdoba, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, La Pampa, San Juan, San Luis, Tierra del Fuego and Tucumán run a 6-year primary level, while Chaco, Jujuy, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquén, Río Negro, Salta, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and the City of Buenos Aires run a 7-year primary level (with secondary shortened correspondingly so the combined primary-plus-secondary span is the same nationwide).
Educación Secundaria
Secondary school is compulsory and is split into two parts:
Ciclo Básico (Basic Cycle) — the first years of secondary school, common to all students regardless of what they go on to specialise in.
Ciclo Orientado (Oriented Cycle) — the remaining years, during which a school offers one or more "orientaciones" (specialisation tracks) such as Ciencias Sociales (Social Sciences), Ciencias Naturales (Natural Sciences), Economía y Administración (Economics and Administration), Lenguas (Languages), Comunicación, Informática, Educación Física, Turismo, Arte, Agro y Ambiente, among others that a province or school may offer. Technical secondary schools (escuelas técnicas) run a longer, technically oriented track leading to a recognised technician qualification alongside the regular secondary certificate.
A student who completes the Ciclo Orientado is awarded a secondary certificate (título secundario / bachiller, or a technical title from a technical school), issued by their school and province rather than by a national exam body.
Marking and results
Promotion from grade to grade, and the award of the final secondary certificate, is decided by each school based on continuous assessment set by its own teachers across the year — there is no single nationwide pass/fail exam that a student must clear to advance or graduate.
Alongside this school-based assessment, the Ministry of Education runs Aprender, a national sample/census-based learning assessment in Language and Mathematics (with context questionnaires for students, teachers and school staff), applied at points in primary and in the last year of secondary school. For 2024, Aprender Secundaria was applied on 24 October to fifth- and sixth-year students in 11,846 schools across the country; 58% reached a satisfactory level in Language and 14.2% in Mathematics. Aprender results are anonymous and confidential and do not become part of any individual student's grade — they are a system-level diagnostic for the ministry, provinces and schools, not a gatekeeping exam for the student.
After the exam
A completed secondary certificate is, by law, the only academic requirement for admission to an undergraduate degree at a public university in Argentina. Since a 2015 reform to the Ley de Educación Superior (Higher Education Law), public universities cannot set eliminatory entrance exams; admission is "libre e irrestricto" (open and unrestricted) once a student holds that certificate, though a university can still set its own enrolment dates, paperwork and introductory coursework.
The best-known exception is the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA): every UBA degree starts with the Ciclo Básico Común (CBC), a common first-year cycle rather than an entrance exam. Admission to the CBC itself is open to anyone with a (legalised, where needed) secondary certificate; students then take six compulsory CBC subjects — two shared by every career plus two chosen for their career's orientation (Social Sciences and Humanities, Biological and Health Sciences, or Exact Sciences, Technology and Design) — in person or through the UBA XXI distance modality, before moving on to their chosen degree. The CBC is designed to be completed in about a year, with up to three years allowed to finish it.
Preparation tips
Treat ongoing schoolwork, not a single exam, as what decides promotion and the final secondary certificate — results are built up across the year in each subject.
Choose a Ciclo Orientado track (and, where relevant, a technical secondary school) based on what you want to study or work in afterwards, since it shapes the subjects available in the final years of secondary school.
If aiming for a UBA degree, check which CBC orientation subjects your intended career requires, and decide between the in-person and UBA XXI distance modality based on your situation.
Confirm your own province's primary-to-secondary split (6+6 or 7+5 years) and any province-specific enrolment steps directly with your school, since these details are set locally rather than nationally.
FAQs
Is there one national exam that all Argentine students must pass to finish school?
No. Promotion and the final secondary certificate are decided by each school through continuous assessment across the year. The national Aprender assessment in Language and Mathematics is a separate, anonymous diagnostic exercise that does not affect any individual student's grade or graduation.
Does a secondary certificate guarantee a place at an Argentine public university?
For most public universities, yes — since a 2015 law reform, a completed secondary certificate is the only academic requirement and entrance exams are not allowed, though a university can still set its own enrolment procedures and introductory coursework. The University of Buenos Aires is the notable exception: it requires every student to complete the Ciclo Básico Común (CBC), a common first year, before continuing into their chosen degree.
Why do some provinces have six years of primary school and others seven?
Each province sets the exact split between primary and secondary school under the national framework, so the combined total is the same nationwide even though the split differs: some provinces run six years of primary followed by six of secondary, while others run seven years of primary followed by five of secondary.
What is the Ciclo Básico Común (CBC) at UBA?
It is the common first year that every University of Buenos Aires degree starts with, made up of six compulsory subjects — two shared across all careers and two specific to the student's chosen orientation. Admission to the CBC itself requires only a secondary certificate, with no separate entrance exam.