Kazakh language knowledge level
assessment system - KAZTEST

National Testing Center

The Republican state budget-supported enterprise “National Testing Center” of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as “NTC”) was established on 5 January 1993 by the Decree of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main objective of NTC is organizational and technical support for improving quality of education in the permanent education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, introduction of a new model of student population in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

NTC carries out work on control of the quality of knowledge of pupils, students, applicants for masters degree and PhD applicants, and also monitoring of the education system and formation of student population of higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan through the common national testing and complex testing of applicants. The Center carries out intermediate state education control in secondary and higher vocational education institutions, scientific research regarding national assessment system of the education quality, harmonization of domestic education system with an international educational space.

Types of activity of the national testing centre

Common national testing

Common national testing (hereinafter referred to as “CNT”) is a form of the final certifying examination of students of the general secondary educational institutions, combining with the entrance examinations in secondary and higher vocational education institutions. CNT is conducted for graduates wishing to enter secondary or higher vocational education institutions in the current school year, applicants for General Certificate of Secondary Education “Altyn Belgi” and General Certificate of Secondary Education with honours, winners of national scientific competitions and general academic competitions for schoolchildren in the current year.

Intermediate State Control

Intermediate State Control is a form of independent external control over the education quality. ISC is conducted at primary (Grade 4) and basic (Grade 9) general secondary educational institutions, and higher educational institutions.

ISC of 4 Grade is carried out on one subject; ISC of 9 Grade is carried out on three subjects. The list and number of subjects on which ISC is carried out are established by Ministry of Education and Science annually.

Complex testing of applicants

Complex testing of applicants (hereafter referred to as “CTA”) is a form of examination conducted simultaneously on several subjects with the use of information technology.

CTA is conducted for graduates of the general secondary educational institutions of past years; graduates of primary and secondary vocational schools (technical and professional, postsecondary); graduates of secondary schools who have learned abroad on the programs of international exchange of students and who have not taken part in CNT; graduates of secondary schools with Uzbek, Uighur and Tajik teaching languages; graduates of national boarding schools of music; as well as those citizens who graduated educational institutions abroad.

Entrance examination for postgraduate education

External state control is implemented at admission for master’s degree program, residency, adyunktura and Ph.D during entrance examinations on foreign, Kazakh and Russian languages, which is conducted in accordance with NTC procedure.

Thus, entrance language examination is conducted in the form of complex testing in the regional centers. The regional centers were established for the purpose of providing uniform requirements for candidates and increasing objectivity of the entrance examination results.

Certification of teachers

Teachers Certificationis a procedure carried out for the purpose of defining conformance of teacher qualification level to qualification requirements.

One of the stages of teachers certification is qualification test, which is conducted in order to determine preparing of teachers for teaching and conformance to the claimed qualification level.

The system of Kazakh language knowledge evaluation –KAZTEST

Since 2006, the National Testing Center began works on establishing system of Kazakh language knowledge evaluation – KAZTEST.

The system KAZTEST is a domestic system for state language knowledge evaluation of citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign citizens engaged in various activities on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.