A total of 8,621 students from 87 gimnazija grammar schools sat the school-leaving exams in June. The number was down by around 500 on last year.

In addition, 13,833 students from vocational high schools sat vocational school-leaving exams this year, including nearly 3,000 adults.

Education Minister Igor Luksic said that this year's matura exam was comparable to the results from previous years, both in terms of the number of students achieving top grade and in the average grade.

A total of 21 gimnazija students achieved full marks on their exams, which is three more than last year.