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In Chile, primary and secondary education represents 12 total years of study. Basic education consists of two parts: 4 years of lower primary and 4 years of upper primary. Completing this level leads to the Licencia de Educacion Basica (License of Basic Education) at the completion of grade 8.
Academic secondary education is a 4-year program divided into the first and second levels levels of middle education. Graduation from secondary culminates in the Licencia de Educacion Media (Licentiate of Middle Education).
Since 2007, adults who are unable to complete their basic and secondary education through traditional means are able to complete their education via the examen de validacion de estudios (study validation examination). These validation examination is offered by the Ministry of Education to adults age 18 and older who want to certify that they have completed a level of education on par with basic education or secondary education graduation.
Typically, adults who take these validation examinations fall into one or more of these categories: they left the traditional education system before graduation and have not completed an adult education graduation program; they completed traditional education at an unrecognized school; they studied at a special education school and want to earn a traditional graduation diploma; or they completed their studies in another country that does not have a formal validation agreement with Chile.
In some instances, those younger than 18 may be eligible to take the exams with parental permission. This route is popular with homeschool and non-traditional students as well as Chilean nationals living abroad during some or all of their secondary education years. The program is also available to those who have temporarily left the formal education system and want to return to traditional education with their same-age peers without having to make up a year.
Some students may complete some of their formal education at a local school and some of the program through validation examinations while others may sit for validation examinations for basic education and every year of secondary education. The validation examinations for each year of secondary education are considered equivalent to the transcripts issued by a Chilean high school for each corresponding year, and the student must sit exams in the same subjects as the national curriculum.
Students sit for standardized examinations that may include multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Unlike some other countries, this process does not allow for students to sit for a single exam to earn the graduation diploma; students must be examined for each year separately.
The examinations are designed and administered by a local high school under the direction of the Ministry of the Education, and that school’s name will appear on their examination results and graduation document.
Students register at an exam location in their region; registration is usually from March/April to June, though some years also include a second exam period from July to August. There is no fee for the validation exam. Failed exams can be retaken at not cost during the next exam period, though some examinations may allow for an oral retake.
The examination dates are assigned by the school offering the test, usually in June and again in October if there is a second exam period. Each school sets it own schedule, but there are limits on how late in the year certain exams can be offered to avoid conflicts with other national exams.
Preparation for the exams can be done through self-study, community preparation programs, online study guides, preparatory schools, and curricula information provided by the Ministry of Education. At the secondary level, students sit for individual examinations in the following categories: (Spanish) language and communication, foreign language/English, natural sciences (biology, physics, and chemistry), social sciences (history, geography, and social sciences), and mathematics.
After taking the exams, the results are validated by the Ministry. Successfully passing all of the exams for an academic level leads to a Certificado Anual de Estudios (Annual Study Certificate) for each level. This is in contrast to the Concentracion de Notas (Consolidated Transcript) issued to students in traditional schools that list all grades for each year on a single document for graduated students.
If a student passes all four years of secondary education, or uses a combination of traditional education transcripts and validation examinations, they will be awarded the Licencia de Educacion Media (Licentiate of Middle Education), in Humanistico Cientifica (Humanities and Science). Once the student’s results and diploma are approved by the Ministry of Education, they will be issued within 15 days. At that point, they can be uploaded into the Ministry of Education’s online certificate portal, which means the graduation and annual transcripts can be validated using the same process as any traditional student.
The Licencia de Educacion Media awarded by the Ministry of Education via validation examinations is legally equivalent to the Licencia de Educacion Media awarded by the Ministry of Education earned through traditional schooling. In either case, it grants access to further education and employment.
Resources:
Consular Affairs, Immigration, and Chileans Abroad: https://www.consulado.gob.cl/servicios-para-chilenos/reconocimiento-de-titulos/examenes-de-validacion-de-estudios-para-chilenos-residentes-en-el
Graduate Platform for Leveling Studies. Servicio Nacional de Capacitacion y Employeo/SENCE (National Training and Employment Service). https://sence.gob.cl/personas/graduate
Legislation on the Approval for Recognition of Basic and Secondary Education Studies Validation Examinations. Library of the National Congress of Chile, 2007. https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=267943
Ministry of Education: https://inscripcion-validacion-estudios.mineduc.cl/solicitud-inscripcion-snec/continuidadDeEstudios/ and https://www.comunidadescolar.cl/solicitud-de-regularizacion-de-estudios/ and https://www.camara.cl/verDoc.aspx?prmID=228373&prmTipo=DOCUMENTO_COMISION
Ministry of Education, Education of Young People and Adults: https://epja.mineduc.cl/desde-cuando-me-inscribo-2/ and https://epja.mineduc.cl/validacion-de-estudios/como_inscribirme/ and https://epja.mineduc.cl/como-se-evalua/ and https://epja.mineduc.cl/validacion-de-estudios/material-apoyo-la-examinacion/
Ministry of Education Help: https://www.ayudamineduc.cl/ficha/examenes-libres-mayores-de-18-anos-12 and https://www.ayudamineduc.cl/ficha/resultados-de-examenes-de-validacion-de-estudios-mayores-y-menores-de-18-anos
Ministry of Education Online Certificate Portal: http://certificados.mineduc.cl/certificados-web/mvc/validar/ingresarCodigo
Study Validation Process for Minors. Colegio Leonardo da Vinci, 2020. https://www.cldv.cl/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Informacio%CC%81n-Padres.-Validacio%CC%81n-de-estudios-2020.pdf
Validation of Studies. Colegio Online.: https://www.colegionlineadultos.cl/validacion-de-estudios
Validation of Studies. Educarchile: The Chilean Education Portal. https://centroderecursos.educarchile.cl/communities/67c4706b-0bee-444d-88b3-95edaec66d28