The second round of the new high school exit exam in Bulgaria is taking place Tuesday.

Like the first one, the second exam is mandatory as well, however, students can choose the school subject to be tested on.

The exam variation was drawn out at 7:45 am at the Education Ministry. As on Sunday, when the students took the first mandatory exam - Bulgarian language and literature, Tuesday they take again a second version, called the "blue" one. The "blue" version is used for all subjects.

Similarly to the first exam the students had to be in the classroom by 7:30 am with the exam starting at 8:00 am.

Only a blue ink pen can be used while those taking the Math test also need a compass, a protractor and rulers. The use of calculators and charts is not allowed.

The exam is four hours long, but students with special needs will have an extra hour.

Over 76 000 high school seniors had to chose among 13 school subjects. Most have chosen Geography - 26 000, followed by Math - 13 000. 10 000 will take Biology, 9 000 - History and 5 000 - Physics.

Five foreign languages are included with English being the most popular. English is taken by over 8 000 students. The least popular, not only among foreign languages, but among all subjects is Italian - only 145 high school seniors are taking it.

When asked why most seniors have chosen Geography, Education Minister Daniel Vulchev joked that Bulgarians like to travel, adding, on a more serious note, that many universities and colleges accept the grade from this subject while lots of students perceive it as easy.

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