Overview
The VBE (Valstybinis brandos egzaminas, State Matura Exam) is Lithuania's national secondary-school-leaving exam. It is set and organised by the National Education Agency (Nacionalinė švietimo agentūra, NŠA) under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, and sat by students finishing general secondary education at a gimnazija (upper secondary school), usually in grade 12. VBE results serve two purposes at once: passing the required subjects earns the Brandos atestatas (Maturity Certificate), and the scored subjects feed directly into the centralised university admission process run by LAMA BPO.
Note
NŠA's, the Ministry's and LAMA BPO's own sites could not be fetched directly while researching this page, so the facts below are drawn from their published schedules and notices as reported by Lithuanian education-news outlets and school information pages. Confirm current-year dates, thresholds and fees on the official NŠA and LAMA BPO sites before relying on them.
Who can apply
Current gimnazija students in their final year of secondary education register for VBE subjects through their own school. Graduates from earlier years and people who completed secondary school abroad (called externs, eksternai) can also sit VBE subjects, registering directly with a chosen base school rather than through a current class.
Lithuania runs two kinds of brandos (maturity) exams side by side:
Valstybinis brandos egzaminas (VBE) — a state-level exam: tasks are set nationally to a state exam programme and sat at designated state exam centres, scored on a 100-point scale.
Mokyklinis brandos egzaminas (MBE) — a school-level exam: tasks are set and marked by the student's own school, scored on a 10-point scale.
Lithuanian language and literature is the only VBE that is effectively compulsory: every candidate aiming for the Brandos atestatas must pass it, sat at either the general or the extended course level. All other VBE subjects are elective, chosen by the candidate according to the admission requirements of the university programmes they plan to apply to. To receive the Brandos atestatas, a candidate must pass at least two state-level exams in total — Lithuanian language and literature plus one other — unless exempted by the school for a recognised reason.
Exam pattern
| Part | Subjects | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory | Lithuanian language and literature | Two parts — Part I (30 points) and Part II (70 points) — combined into one 100-point VBE score |
| Elective | Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Information technologies, Economics and entrepreneurship, Foreign languages (English, French, German, Russian) | Each scored on its own 100-point scale; candidates pick subjects based on the admission requirements of the university programmes they are targeting |
Most of these elective subjects can instead be taken as a school-level MBE rather than a state-level VBE, at the student's choice; a smaller group of subjects, such as native minority languages, music and the arts, is only offered as a school-level exam. Since a 2025–2026 reform, VBE subjects are sat in separate parts spread across different exam days rather than as one single sitting, and foreign-language exams include a separately scheduled speaking part held earlier in the session than the written papers.
For university admission, three VBE results are generally needed: Lithuanian language and literature, Mathematics, and one further subject chosen to match the target programme.
Marking and results
Each VBE is scored on a 0–100 point scale. For 2026, the pass threshold was lowered to 25 points (from 35 the previous year); a score below 25 is recorded as "not passed" and cannot be used for university admission. A school-level MBE is scored on a 10-point scale and is considered passed at 4 points or above.
Starting with the 2025–2026 exam session, candidates can retake not only a failed Lithuanian language and literature VBE but also the second part of the Mathematics VBE within the same academic year, at the June repeat session.
Important dates
For the 2025–2026 session, NŠA's confirmed calendar sets:
Candidates choose and confirm their VBE subjects and parts through their school by 15 February 2026, with system confirmation by 25 February and final corrections by 2 March 2026.
The main exam session runs from 30 March to 19 June 2026. Foreign-language speaking parts and the Lithuanian language and literature speaking component are held in late March and early April; most written papers fall in the June window, for example Lithuanian language and literature on 1 June, Mathematics on 5 June, History and Geography on 3 June, Chemistry on 4 June, Biology on 8 June, foreign languages on 9–10 June, Information technologies on 11–12 June, and Physics on 23 June 2026.
A repeat (retake) session runs from 22 June to 13 July 2026 for candidates who failed or missed a subject, or are eligible to resit under the 2026 retake rule.
The Brandos atestatas is issued to successful candidates by mid-July 2026.
How to apply
Current-year gimnazija students submit their choice of VBE subjects and exam parts to their school by the published February deadline, confirming the choice in the school's registration system and correcting it if needed before the early-March cut-off. Externs register directly with a chosen base school instead of through a current class, and for 2025–2026 pay a fee of 20 euros per exam part they sit; the fee funds the school's cost of registering externs and administering their exams. Subject choices should be matched to the admission requirements published by the university programmes a candidate plans to apply to, since changing them after the deadline is not straightforward.
After the exam
Passing the required state-level exams, including Lithuanian language and literature, earns the Brandos atestatas. For university admission, candidates apply through LAMA BPO (the Association of Lithuanian Higher Education Institutions for Joint Admissions), which runs a single centralised online application covering most Lithuanian universities and colleges. LAMA BPO combines each candidate's VBE scores with their final school grades into one competitive score, using weighting coefficients set per study programme, and ranks applicants against the places available. For 2026, the main LAMA BPO admission window for submitting applications and documents runs from 1 June to 23 July 2026 (12:00), with study-place offers announced by 30 July 2026; candidates who are not offered a place in the main round can apply again in one of two additional admission stages held in August 2026.
Preparation tips
Decide early which elective VBE subjects to sit, matching them to the admission requirements of the university programmes of interest, since subject choices are hard to change after the February deadline.
Work through NŠA's published exam programmes and sample tasks for each chosen subject — they set out exactly what is tested and in what format for that year.
Treat the Lithuanian language and literature VBE as the anchor subject: it is required for the certificate and, together with Mathematics, carries heavy weight in most LAMA BPO competitive-score formulas.
Track both the subject-selection deadline and the published exam calendar closely, since a late registration or a missed exam date cannot be corrected within the same session.
If a retake is needed, note that only Lithuanian language and literature and, since 2026, the second part of Mathematics can be resat within the same academic year at the June repeat session — other subjects must wait for the next session.
FAQs
Is any VBE subject compulsory?
Lithuanian language and literature is the only VBE that is effectively compulsory: it must be passed, at either the general or extended course level, to receive the Brandos atestatas. All other VBE subjects are elective, chosen according to each candidate's university plans.
What score do I need to pass a VBE?
For 2026, a VBE is passed with 25 points or more out of 100, down from the 35-point threshold used previously. A score below 25 is recorded as not passed and cannot be used for university admission.
How are VBE results used for university admission?
LAMA BPO, the centralised admission body for Lithuanian higher education, combines each candidate's VBE scores with their final school grades into a single competitive score, weighted per study programme, and ranks applicants against available places. Lithuanian language and literature and Mathematics carry the most weight in most formulas.
Can I retake a VBE if I fail it?
Since the 2025–2026 session, a failed Lithuanian language and literature VBE or the second part of the Mathematics VBE can be resat within the same academic year, at the June repeat session. Other subjects generally must be resat in a later exam session.