The Ministry of Education and Research has told ERR that "technical issues" were to blame, and the untaken portion of the entry exams, for the 2024-2025 school year, will not be taken into consideration.

The joint exams for state high schools began at 10 a.m. on Saturday and were reportedly plagued by these technical issues from the outset. Initially scheduled to end at 1 p.m., the test time was first extended by half an hour, and then ultimately ended.

State high schools spokesperson Iiris Viirpalu said: "At the moment, I can say that there was a technical issue with the EIS. We immediately started addressing the glitch, but what exactly happened, I will be able to say over the course of the day."

Viirpalu added that exam takers were kept continuously informed about what was happening and that they would be notified of the solutions as soon as possible.

Later on Saturday, a representative for the state high schools, Indrek Lillemägi, who is also director of one of them, the Pelgulinna riigigümnaasium (Pelgulinn State High School), told ERR that the glitch-shortened exam results will not be considered for admission, plus there are no plans for it to be re-taken.

The criteria for proceeding to the interview round, therefore, will vary from school to school, he added.

This year, the joint exams were organized by the state high schools in Viimsi, Tabasalu, Saue, Mustamäe, Pelgulin, Tõnismäe, and Rae, all of them in Tallinn or in municipalities adjacent to Tallinn.

A total of 3,840 candidates were taking the exams.

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