Hi All, I appreciate the comments to my message on pupils not taking the Bagrut to bypass the school grade. I'm not sure I understand your comment, Bari, regarding a "fair" grade and one that reflects the pupil's capabilities. Fair, in my opinion, means playing according to the rules; a pupil must do all the assignments, classwork, come to class, etc. A pupil who doesn't fulfill these responsibilities, doesn't deserve a passing grade even if he/she is capable of getting 100% on the Bagrut test. According to the NBA guidelines 70% of the grade goes to classwork, quizzes, tests, etc. and 30% to project work, lit. or extensive reading. No project, lit. or book report files boils down to 0%. No homework, poor class attendance and not handing in assignments also means lowering of the grade even if the kid is bright and is capable. In our school, we decided to divide the 70% into 2 parts; 40% pre-Bagrut exam/s (makonet) and 30% classwork, quizzes, etc. So, 100% on the pre-Bagrut exam and )% (or any other very low grade, leads to a failure. Is that fair? Laurie