Moldova reinstates numeric grades for 4th‑grade students on 1 September 2026

From 1 September 2026, Moldova will again assign numeric grades to pupils in the fourth grade for the core examination subjects – Romanian language and literature and Mathematics. The change ends almost a decade of evaluating primary pupils with performance descriptors such as “very good”, “good” or “sufficient”. The Ministry of Education and Research says the new methodology offers a clearer, more coherent system that better meets the needs of students and teachers.  Valentina Olaru, state secretary, explained that pilot testing “facilitated the transition to gymnasium and helped finalize a balanced document”. The pilot ran during the 2025‑2026 school year in 268 schools, involving roughly 2 500 teachers and over 2 300 instructional events, with observations in 140 lessons across 49 institutions. Feedback confirmed the necessity of modernising the assessment system. In February 2026, Education Minister Dan Perciun announced the return of numeric grades as part of recent amendments to the Education Code.