In brief

  • Eighth grade leavers who obtained an average of 10 at the 2026 national assessment receive 2,000 lei, and high school leavers with an average of 10 at the baccalaureate receive 5,000 lei. These are exactly the amounts paid for the 2025 sessions as well.
  • The decision does not say how many people will be paid, nor what it costs. The explanatory memorandum of the draft speaks of 7 leavers with an average of 10 at the national assessment and 93 at the baccalaureate, that is 479,000 lei from the 2026 budget of the Ministry of Education and Research.
  • No money flows from the decision on its own. The list of beneficiaries and the payment arrangements are approved by order of the minister of education and research, within 30 days, so by 3 October 2026.
Act: Government Decision no. 702 of 3 September 2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 747 of 3 September 2026
In force from: 3 September 2026, the date of publication

An average of 10 at the baccalaureate is worth 5,000 lei, and an average of 10 at the national assessment 2,000 lei. On 3 September 2026 the Government adopted the decision that rewards the top results at the year’s two national examinations, and the text appeared in Official Gazette of Romania no. 747 of the same day. The act has four articles, no annex and no table. It comes from the Ministry of Education and Research, the same ministry that a day earlier had published the syllabuses for the baccalaureate to be taken in 2030, and it repeats a measure the ministry initiates year after year, with the same amounts. The next session already has its dates, set by MEC Order no. 5.211/2026, the calendar of the 2027 baccalaureate.

Article 1 grants 2,000 lei to every eighth grade leaver who obtained an average of 10 at the national assessment, 2026 session. Article 2 grants 5,000 lei to every high school leaver with an average of 10 at the national baccalaureate examination, the special session and the June-July 2026 session. There are no further conditions: none on income, none on continuing in education, none on conduct. The only criterion is the average of 10, calculated at the end of the examination, after appeals.

Article 3 says where the money comes from: the approved 2026 budget of the Ministry of Education and Research, title 57 „Asistență socială”, that is, social assistance, chapter 65.01 „Învățământ”, education. Title 57 is the budget line on which the State pays social aid and allowances, so the prize for top school results travels, in accounting terms, along the same road as support granted on grounds of need.

Article 4 is the one that matters for anyone waiting for the money. The list of beneficiaries and the arrangements for granting it are approved by order of the minister of education and research, within 30 days of the entry into force of the decision. The decision entered into force on the date of publication, because the three day period laid down by Article 12 of Law no. 24/2000 applies only to laws and ordinances, not to Government decisions. The 30 days therefore run out on 3 October 2026.

The figures missing from the decision appear in the explanatory memorandum of the draft. At the 2026 national assessment only 7 eighth grade leavers obtained an average of 10, the lowest number since 2013. At the baccalaureate there were 93 averages of 10: 70 in the summer session, after appeals, one in the special session and 22 at the German baccalaureate. The two groups add up to 100 people and 479,000 lei.

The decision is signed by Prime Minister Ilie-Gavril Bolojan and countersigned by Deputy Prime Minister Oana-Clara Gheorghiu, by the minister of education and research, Mihai Dimian, and, for the minister of finance, by state secretary Florin-Alexandru Zaharia.

What it changes in practice

The immediate effect is the opening of a budget appropriation, not a payment. The decision authorises the expenditure and fixes its amount, but the identity of the beneficiaries and the route the money takes are left to the ministerial order. Until that order appears, a leaver with an average of 10 has no application to file and no counter to go to, because no procedure exists yet.

The second effect is that nobody has to do anything in order to be included. Beneficiaries are identified from the examination databases, not on request. The ministry already knows, from the assessment platform, who obtained an average of 10, and Article 4 speaks of a „listă a beneficiarilor”, a list of beneficiaries approved by the minister, not of individual files.

The third effect has to do with the calendar. The decision was published on 3 September, roughly two months after the final baccalaureate results were posted. Last year the equivalent act, Government Decision no. 1.104/2025, appeared in Official Gazette of Romania no. 1.176 of 18 December 2025, 106 days later in the year. The difference is not cosmetic: in 2025 the 30 days for the minister’s order ran out in January 2026, although the money was allocated from the 2025 budget, which closed on 31 December. This year the order falls due on 3 October and almost three months of budget execution remain until the end of the year.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

The amounts have not changed. Government Decision no. 1.104/2025 also provided 2,000 lei for an average of 10 at the national assessment and 5,000 lei for an average of 10 at the baccalaureate. The structure of the four articles is almost identical, including the 30 day deadline for the minister’s order and the reference to title 57 of the ministry’s budget.

What has changed is who receives the money. In 2025 there were 85 eighth grade leavers with an average of 10 and 42 high school leavers, 127 beneficiaries in all and 380,000 lei. In 2026 there are 7 and 93, that is 100 beneficiaries and 479,000 lei. The number of prizewinners fell by 21%, while the cost rose by 26%, 99,000 lei more than the year before. The explanation lies in the composition of the group: averages of 10 at the national assessment collapsed from 85 to 7, while those at the baccalaureate doubled, from 42 to 93. The average prize per beneficiary climbed from 2,992 lei to 4,790 lei.

The second change is the date of publication, discussed above. Education reached the Constitutional Court once more in 2026, this time through the citizens’ legislative initiative to amend the education laws. The third concerns wording: this year’s decision speaks of the „sesiunea iunie-iulie 2026”, the June-July 2026 session, whereas the 2025 one referred to the „sesiunea iunie 2025”, the June 2025 session, an adjustment to the examination calendar, which also ran into July.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The criterion is objective and verifiable. The average of 10 is established after appeals, in the same database the ministry uses for school placement, so there is no room for discretionary judgement.
  • No file has to be submitted. The leaver does not have to prove anything, and the absence of an application also removes the classic situation in which a prize is lost because somebody did not hear about it in time.
  • Publication in September rather than December leaves real time for the order to be issued and for payment to be made in the same budget year from which the money is allocated.
  • The sum is small relative to the ministry’s budget, 479,000 lei according to the explanatory memorandum, so the measure does not compete with other spending on education.

What remains a problem

  • The legal basis relied on, Article 113(1) of Law no. 198/2023, speaks of olympiads and school competitions, not of national examinations. The details are in the section on errors.
  • The decision contains neither the number of beneficiaries nor the total sum, so the reader cannot check from the act what the measure costs, nor compare one year with another without hunting down the explanatory memorandum.
  • Nothing is said about the tax treatment of the sum, nor about who collects the money when the eighth grade leaver is a minor.
  • The measure is renewed by a new act every year, with the same amounts, which means that a predictable prize nevertheless depends on an act that can be late, as it was in 2025.
  • The amounts have not moved for years, although prices have risen, and the decision contains no updating mechanism.

Practical advice

  1. If you obtained an average of 10 at either of the two examinations, do not file any application for the moment. The minister’s order, due on 3 October 2026, is the one that will say what has to be submitted, where and by when.
  2. Check the final average shown on your certificate or on your diploma, once appeals have been settled. The decision refers to the average of 10, not to the marks on individual papers.
  3. Prepare in good time the details usually required for a payment from public funds: the identity document or, for minors, the birth certificate, the personal identification number and a bank statement in the name of the beneficiary.
  4. For eighth grade leavers, most of whom are 14 or 15, a bank account can be opened in the minor’s name with the parent’s consent. Ask at school which option the order accepts, as soon as it appears.
  5. Follow the website of the Ministry of Education and Research and the Official Gazette of Romania in the first week of October 2026. Orders of this kind are published in Part I.
  6. If you obtained an average of 10 and you do not find yourself on the list approved by order, write to the county school inspectorate, giving the registration number of your paper and your certificate of results, before going any further.
  7. Check separately whether the town hall or the county council grants a prize of its own for an average of 10. Article 144(5^1) of Law no. 198/2023 allows them to do so, and the two sums do not cancel each other out.

Frequently asked questions

Who receives 2,000 lei and who receives 5,000 lei?
2,000 lei goes to every eighth grade leaver who obtained an average of 10 at the national assessment, 2026 session. 5,000 lei goes to every high school leaver with an average of 10 at the national baccalaureate examination, the special session and the June-July 2026 session.
Do I have to file an application?
The decision provides for no application. It says that the list of beneficiaries and the arrangements for granting the money are approved by order of the minister of education and research. If the order calls for a form or a bank statement, that is where it will appear.
When does the money arrive?
The decision sets no payment date. It sets only the deadline for the minister’s order: 30 days from 3 September 2026, so by 3 October 2026. Actual payment depends on the procedure laid down in that order.
How many leavers receive the money?
The decision does not say. The explanatory memorandum of the draft speaks of 7 eighth grade leavers with an average of 10 at the national assessment and 93 high school leavers with an average of 10 at the baccalaureate, of whom 70 in the summer session, one in the special session and 22 at the German baccalaureate.
Why are there more prizewinners at the baccalaureate than at the national assessment?
Because the number of averages of 10 at the 2026 national assessment fell sharply, to 7, the lowest since 2013, while at the baccalaureate it doubled compared with 2025. The decision does not comment on this shift, it only pays for it.
Is the sum taxed?
The decision says nothing about tax or about contributions. It is one of the points that ought to appear in the minister’s order, because the amount actually received depends on it.
Can a pupil with an average of 10 also receive money from the town hall?
Yes. Article 144(5^1) of Law no. 198/2023, introduced by Law no. 297/2024, allows the local council, the county council and the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest to reward, from their own funds, pupils with an average of 10 at the national assessment and at the baccalaureate. No provision forbids combining this with the prize under the present decision.
What happens if I obtained an average of 10 in the August-September 2026 session?
You are not covered. Article 2 lists only the special session and the June-July 2026 session, and a Government decision does not apply by analogy to situations it does not name.
Is the measure repeated every year?
In fact, yes: the ministry initiates a decision each year for that year’s sessions. In law, no: every year needs a new act, and last year the act appeared only on 18 December 2025.
Where can I read the full text?
In the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 747 of 3 September 2026. The decision has four articles and no annex.

Errors and inconsistencies in the published text

  • Preamble, the legal basis relied on: Article 113(1) of Law no. 198/2023 does not concern the national examinations. In the wording given by Government Emergency Ordinance no. 95/2024, the paragraph has three sentences. The first allows the Ministry of Education to organise olympiads, school, extracurricular and out of school competitions, subject camps and symposia, and to grant scholarships and other forms of material and financial support. The second refers the rules for organising those activities to a ministerial order. The third, the only one that mentions a Government decision, concerns the expenditure on organising those same activities and the amount of the incentives granted to pupils, to the teachers who prepared them and to the schools the prizewinners come from. The national assessment and the baccalaureate examination are not olympiads or school competitions, and their candidates are not prizewinners within the meaning of that text. The only provision in the law that expressly names „media 10 la examenul de evaluare națională, la examenul de bacalaureat”, an average of 10 at the national assessment examination and at the baccalaureate examination, is Article 144(5^1), introduced by Law no. 297/2024, and it confers the power on local and county councils, from their own funds, on the basis of rules approved by council decision, not on the Government, from the budget of the Ministry of Education. A reader in good faith can arrive at two conclusions: either the first sentence of Article 113(1), through the phrase „alte forme de sprijin material și financiar”, other forms of material and financial support, covers this payment too, or the decision rests on a text that says something else. The consequence is not theoretical, because the legal basis is what justifies expenditure of 479,000 lei from the State budget.

Editorial analysis

The figures in the decision do add up, but only if you look for them outside it: 7 leavers with an average of 10 at the national assessment, at 2,000 lei each, comes to 14,000 lei; 93 high school leavers, at 5,000 lei, comes to 465,000 lei; the total is 479,000 lei, exactly the sum in the explanatory memorandum. The same calculation works for last year as well: 85 lower secondary leavers at 2,000 lei give 170,000, and 42 high school leavers at 5,000 lei give 210,000, that is the 380,000 lei of Decision no. 1.104/2025. The problem is not the arithmetic, it is that none of these figures is in the published act. The decision authorises expenditure without saying how much it is, and public scrutiny of the sum is left to a document that is not published in the Official Gazette of Romania.

The comparison between the two years produces an observation that does not emerge from reading the act from beginning to end. The number of beneficiaries fell from 127 to 100, by 21%, while the cost rose from 380,000 to 479,000 lei, by 26%, that is 99,000 lei more for 27 fewer people. The average prize per beneficiary jumped from 2,992 to 4,790 lei. Nothing changed in public policy, only the composition of the rewarded group: averages of 10 at the national assessment fell from 85 to 7, while those at the baccalaureate doubled. In other words, the cost of this measure does not depend on a Government choice, but on how difficult an examination paper happens to be in a given year. A budget built that way cannot be planned, only observed after the fact.

The second observation concerns the calendar, and here the 2026 decision is an improvement that nobody announced. Last year’s equivalent act was published on 18 December 2025, 106 days later in the year. Since that one also allowed 30 days for the minister’s order, the deadline fell in January 2026, although the money was being allocated from the 2025 budget. Publication now, on 3 September, with the order due on 3 October 2026, solves a budget execution problem that the 2025 act created for itself. It is worth saying, not least because it shows how much a predictable prize, with amounts unchanged for years, depends on the moment somebody puts the draft on the agenda of a Government meeting.

The rest of the act is clean: four articles, a single source of financing, a single deadline, no internal references that contradict one another. The choice of budget line remains odd all the same. The prize for the top examination result is paid from title 57 „Asistență socială”, social assistance, chapter 65.01 „Învățământ”, education, that is from the category in which the State records the aid it grants on grounds of need. This is not a legal error, but it makes an expenditure based on merit vanish statistically into a social assistance aggregate, which complicates any attempt to track, over several years, how much Romania spends on encouraging school performance.

What should be changed

  • An explicit legal basis for results at the national examinations. Either Article 144 is relied on, or Parliament adds to Law no. 198/2023 a provision saying clearly that the Government may reward an average of 10 at the national assessment and at the baccalaureate. The practical effect: the decision can no longer be challenged for want of a legal basis, and payment no longer depends on a broad reading of a text written for olympiads.
  • The number of beneficiaries and the total sum, written into the decision. A paragraph reading „14,000 lei for the 7 eighth grade leavers and 465,000 lei for the 93 high school leavers” would allow anyone to check the expenditure from the published act, without hunting for the explanatory memorandum on the ministry’s website.
  • The German baccalaureate, named expressly. The 22 leavers with an average of 10 at the German baccalaureate account for almost a quarter of the high school beneficiaries and 110,000 lei. Article 2 lists only the special session and the June-July session, and an explicit mention would spare the minister’s order an interpretation the decision does not supply.
  • The tax treatment, settled in the text. A sentence saying whether the sum is taxed and who collects it when the leaver is a minor would remove the question that comes up, predictably, every year, in every school.
  • A standing decision, with automatic updating of the amounts. The measure is repeated every year with the same sums and the same structure. An act of continuing application, in which the sums are indexed, would remove the risk of the prize appearing in December, as it did in 2025, and would spare the Government one decision a year.
  • Publication of the number of prizewinners by county, together with the order. The list of names cannot be published, but a breakdown by county and by type of school would show where the averages of 10 are produced and would turn a payment of 479,000 lei into useful information about the education system.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 747 of 3 September 2026 8 pages PDF, 85 KB the act starts on page 6

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.