Dainius Dzindzalieta: inadequate persons created it
Dainius Dzindzalieta, an associate professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Vilnius University, stated on his Facebook account that the tasks for the 2026 mathematics VBE Part II were created by inadequate persons who should not be allowed near students again.
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He outlined the biggest problems with these tasks:
„1. Inadequate because they manage to present students with a situation involving 10^100 bacteria. There isn’t enough space in our entire Milky Way galaxy to fit such a quantity of bacteria!
2. Furthermore, only a completely inadequate person could give students problem 20.2 to solve, something they have never seen in their lives. Neither in textbooks nor in problem collections. This is an off-syllabus problem in every sense and should be ANNULLED.
A few more minor observations about other tasks (detailed analysis later):
3. Task 17 is completely identical to task 24 from 2017. Even the numbers haven’t been changed. I don’t know if that’s adequate.
4. Task 19 is almost identical to task 18 from 2025,” he wrote.
Šarūnas Vaitkus: I haven’t solved such nonsense in a long time
Šarūnas Vaitkus, a mathematics teacher at Vilnius Jesuit High School, after solving the exam tasks, also did not spare criticism on his Facebook account:
„My preliminary 2026 extended mathematics course VBE2 answers and solutions: https://bit.ly/MAT26VBE2
1. I received the task around 13:06, and by about 13:38 (when I reached problem 12) I sent a message to a student saying that I hadn’t solved such nonsense in a long time.
For the next 15 min. I was simply angry (and still quite angry as I write this post) at the authors of the task for completely absurd stretching of problems to real contexts and unusually presented conditions that only confused students.
To be fair, there weren’t many such problems, but it was enough for many strong students to stumble upon them, and they can only be understood and comforted.
I have emphasized many times that by standardizing the conversion of all exam points into scores, mathematics probably suffered the most. Given the logic of the subject and the task, a 5-point amortization is simply too small for academically strong students. Making a few silly mistakes in such a task is child’s play.
I also feel a certain disrespect for the teacher, who is left shrugging their shoulders as to why the problems solved in class are different or formulated more simply.
2. Since this year’s last exam problem was truly complex and non-standard, I think it’s a great opportunity to discuss again whether such a problem can even be in an exam.
Also, I will ask once again – when can we finally expect a description of higher-order thinking skills problems?
Or perhaps we will continue to point to the last problem every year and consider whether it meets the curriculum, and how to prepare for such a problem?
Fortunately, the last part is only worth 3 points.
3. I have heard many times in NŠA communication that the VBE2 task would be analogous to the trial one. Either let’s agree on what “analogous” means, or stop lying.
As last year, the trial task created certain expectations for graduates going into the exam today. They remained, to put it mildly, unfulfilled.
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Many students emphasized that when solving both the trial and last year’s exams, the tasks were easier.
The exam under the new program is being organized only for the second time, and inconsistency is already noticeable.
I would like to write something positive, but I have nothing today.”
Audrius Miliauskas: they, apparently, feed on the tears of twelfth-graders
Audrius Miliauskas, a teacher at Marijampolė St. Cecilia Gymnasium, was so enraged that he unleashed merciless criticism.
„I would very much like to put it nicely, but the reality is this: this year’s authors, apparently, feed on the TEARS of twelfth-graders. And I guarantee – there will be MANY of them this year.
When the first students who left told me it was difficult, I didn’t believe it yet. Exam stress does its thing. But when the TRUE mathematics leaders came out… Those students who solve last year’s exams just by looking at them – then I believed it. This year, the exam level is again RADICALLY different.
Why is this happening? I will no longer call these people Zeuses. Let’s call them GEEKS. It gives the impression that they live somewhere in a basement, study ONLY mathematics, and never see daylight. They don’t understand ORDINARY twelfth-graders, ordinary people. They feed on hardship, tears, and BLOOD. The goal has been achieved – now they are feasting in their basement,” writes A. Miliauskas.
He performed a detailed analysis of the tasks (comparing the official 2026 VBE with the 2025 VBE and the well-balanced LMMA trial exam) and shared the main conclusions:
„MISSING THRESHOLD. It is officially declared that the exam must contain ~35% threshold-level problems. In the LMMA trial, this was perfectly fulfilled. But in the real VBE? There was simply NO BASE. Even the simplest warm-up problem was wrapped in a very UNPALATABLE and error-prone wrapper. Students who honestly prepared according to the LMMA trial were simply DECEIVED, because the skills demonstrated there hardly helped in the official exam.
X FACTOR. Even a DILIGENT student who consistently gets 9s or 10s in school will hardly score 30+ points on this exam. Why? Because it’s not enough to just demonstrate knowledge. You need to have THAT. You need to be not only diligent but also WELL-PREPARED, very INSIGHTFUL, and able to avoid falling into the TRAPS set at every step. This year, one needed to be a “mathematics HIM,” not just a good student.
UNFUNNY FLUCTUATION. The annual fluctuation in exam difficulty is becoming TRAGIC. You can’t give smooth asphalt one year and off-road the next. This destroys any motivation to learn.
KICKING FOR FUN. Last year, they got an easier, STANDARD exam and easy +10 points as a gift. This year, the system decided to HAVE FUN and kick this time. Just so life wouldn’t seem too easy.
I don’t yet see the opinions of GREAT and deserving mathematicians online. Perhaps I will be the FIRST to say this openly and without beating around the bush, but I honestly DON’T CARE. The Earth sees this situation exactly like this – seeing the tears of real students. What do Mars and Venus see from their towers? Let’s wait for other opinions.”
More than 20 thousand took the exam
On Friday, according to the National Education Agency (NŠA), 14.4 thousand students took the second part of the state mathematics matriculation exam at the advanced (A) level, and 8.9 thousand students took it at the general (B) level.
Some students took the second part of the exam already having the necessary points to pass the exam. During the first part of the exam, 59.3 percent of students who took the exam at level A, and 23.3 percent of students who took the exam at level B, scored 25 or more points.
In the resit session, it will be possible to retake the second part of the mathematics exam if it was not passed during the main exam session. Those who took the exam at level A will be able to choose to retake it at level A or B, while those who took it at level B will only be able to retake it at level B.
