Primary and secondary education

Primary education

Only primary education is compulsory in Ethiopia. It lasts 8 years and it is for pupils aged 7 to 14. Primary education consists of 2 stages:

• lower primary education, finished with exams for a Primary School Leaving Certificate.
• upper primary education, finished with exams for a Middle School Education Certificate.

Secondary education

Students follow secondary education at a secondary school, but they take their final exams via the Educational Assessment and Examination Services (EAES).

If they pass, they receive a diploma from the EAES: the Ethiopian Secondary School Leaving Examination (ESSLE). The language of instruction is English.

Please note:

• Until 2022, the EAES was called the National Educational Assessment and Examinations Agency (NEAEA).
• Before 2021, there were 2 diplomas in secondary education. See Secondary education before 2021.

• Duration i : 6 years (grade 1- grade 6).
• Content: lower primary education (primary school).
• Diploma: Primary School Leaving Certificate.

• Duration: 2 years (grade 7- grade 8).
• Content: upper primary education (middle school).
• Diploma: Middle School Education Certificate.

• Duration: 4 years (grade 9-grade 12).
• Content: in July of the final year (grade 12), students take exams in 7 subjects. The following 4 exam subjects are compulsory:
  • civics
  • English
  • general academic aptitude
  • mathematics
    In addition, students take exams in 3 subjects from a track (subject cluster). They can choose 1 of the following tracks:
  • natural science track with subjects like biology, chemistry and physics; or
  • social science track with subjects like economics, geography and history.
• Admission requirements: the Middle School Education Certificate.
• Function of the diploma: access to higher education.
• Diploma: Ethiopian Secondary School Leaving Examination, issued by the EAES. Please note that until the academic year 2021/2022, the diploma was called the Secondary School Leaving Examination (SSLE) and until 2022, the EAES was called the NEAEA.

Before 2021, secondary education consisted of 2 stages:

• lower secondary education, concluded with exams for a Ethiopian General Secondary Education Certificate (EGSEC);
• upper secondary education, concluded with exams for a Ethiopian University Entrance Examination Certificate (EUEEC).

Before 2021, students finished lower secondary education (general secondary education) with exams for an EGSEC. They took their exams via the NEAEA.

• Duration: 2 years (grade 9 - grade 10).
• Content: usually 9 exam subjects, sometimes 10. Students took exams in the following subjects:
  • Amharic
  • biology
  • chemistry
  • civics
  • English
  • geography
  • history
  • mathematics
  • physics
    In addition, students could take their native language as the 10th exam subject, such as Afan Oromo.
• Admission requirements: the Primary School Leaving Certificate, which, before 2021, was the diploma students received after completing primary education. This has changed, see Primary and secondary education in Ethiopia.
• Function of the diploma: access to upper secondary education (Ethiopian University Entrance Examination Certificate) or secondary vocational education. This depended on the students’ exam results.
• iploma: Ethiopian General Secondary Education Certificate, issued by the NEAEA.

Up until 2020, students concluded upper secondary education with exams for a Ethiopian University Entrance Examination Certificate (EUEEC). The content (curriculum) was largely the same as it is now (Ethiopian Secondary School Leaving Examination). They took their exams via the NEAEA.