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Key Facts: Érettségi Történelem Exam

A compulsory subject governed by the current detailed history examination requirements.

Compulsory school-leaving subject required for all secondary gymnasiums and vocational secondary schools (szakgimnáziumok/technikumok).

Written exam lasts 180 minutes at középszint (50 pts short tasks + 50 pts essay/composition) and 240 minutes at emelt szint.

Oral examination accounts for 50 points out of the total 150 points at középszint (33.3% of the total grade).

A minimum score of 25% overall and at least 12% in each exam component is strictly required to pass.

Official approved historical atlases are allowed and essential reference tools during the examination.

The curriculum maintains a standardized 60:40 balance between Hungarian national history and universal world history.

All official past exams and scoring keys since 2005 are freely accessible from the Oktatási Hivatal repository at oktatas.hu.

The Hungarian Érettségi History exam is a compulsory school-leaving examination administered by the Oktatási Hivatal, combining a 180-minute written paper (source analysis and historical essays) and an oral exam, testing Hungarian and universal history under NAT 2020.

Sample Érettségi Történelem Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the Érettségi Történelem exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Which institutional reform introduced by Cleisthenes in 508/507 BC laid the territorial foundation of Athenian democracy and broke the political power of traditional aristocratic clans?
A.The division of Attica into ten territorial phyles combining city, coast, and inland trittyes
B.The cancellation of all peasant debts and the abolition of debt slavery (seisachtheia)
C.The establishment of a property-based four-class census system
D.The introduction of state salaries for citizens serving as jurors in the Heliaia
Explanation: Cleisthenes reorganized the citizen body of Attica into 10 new artificial territorial tribes (phyles). Each phyle was composed of three trittyes drawn from distinct geographical regions: one from the city (asty), one from the coast (paralia), and one from the inland (mesogaia). This cross-section mixed aristocratic and non-aristocratic populations, preventing regional noble factions from dominating politics and providing the organizational base for the Council of 500 (Boule).
2What was the primary constitutional purpose of the ostracism (cserépszavazás) procedure established in classical Athens?
A.To confiscate the property of citizens convicted of treason
B.To elect military commanders (strategoi) by secret ballot on clay potsherds
C.To prevent the rise of a tyranny by exiling an overly powerful political leader for ten years without loss of property
D.To determine which aristocratic families were eligible to sit in the Areopagus
Explanation: Ostracism was designed as a safeguard against tyranny. Once a year, the citizens in the Ecclesia could vote on broken pieces of pottery (ostraka). If at least 6,000 citizens cast ballots, the individual with the most votes was exiled from Athens for ten years. Crucially, ostracism was not a criminal conviction: the exile retained their citizenship and private property, and could return unconditionally once the decade elapsed.
3During the Roman Republic, which magistrate was specifically elected by the Plebeian Assembly (Concilium Plebis) to protect plebeian citizens against arbitrary patrician coercion?
A.Praetor
B.Consul
C.Tribune of the Plebs (Tribunus plebis)
D.Censor
Explanation: The Tribunes of the Plebs (tribuni plebis) were created following the first plebeian secession in 494 BC. They possessed physical sacrosanctity (sacrosanctitas), making any assault on their person a capital religious crime, and held the power of veto (intercessio, meaning 'I forbid') to halt any official magistrate action or legislative proposal harmful to plebeian interests.
4What was the main historical significance of the Law of the Twelve Tables (Lex Duodecim Tabularum, c. 451–450 BC) in Roman history?
A.It established equal distribution of public land (ager publicus) to landless proletarians
B.It granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants across the Italian peninsula
C.It abolished the senate and granted supreme legislative authority to the military centuriae
D.It represented the first written codification of Roman customary law, limiting arbitrary patrician judicial interpretations
Explanation: The Twelve Tables constituted the first written code of Roman law, drafted by the Decemviri. Before this codification, customary law was unwritten and monopolized by patrician priests and magistrates who interpreted it arbitrarily. Publishing the laws publicly in the Forum Romanum established equal legal standards and transparency for both patricians and plebeians.
5How did Augustus legally structure his supreme authority during the establishment of the Principate (27 BC – AD 14) while formally preserving republican institutions?
A.He concentrated vital republican powers—principally tribunicia potestas and imperium proconsulare maius—without holding monarchical titles
B.He had himself crowned absolute king (rex) and disbanded the Roman Senate
C.He abolished all municipal magistrates and transferred all provincial taxation to a hereditary military council
D.He ruled exclusively as perpetual dictator under the model of Julius Caesar
Explanation: Augustus deliberately avoided monarchical titles such as rex or dictator perpetuo, which had caused the assassination of Julius Caesar. Instead, he claimed to restore the Republic (res publica restituta) while amassing overwhelming legal power through two key republican authorities: tribunician power (tribunicia potestas), which gave him sacrosanctity, legislative initiative, and veto rights, and superior proconsular command (imperium proconsulare maius), granting command over all frontier legions and imperial provinces.
6Which agreement announced by Constantine and Licinius in AD 313 extended toleration to Christianity and required the return of confiscated Christian property?
A.The Edict of Thessalonica
B.The Edict of Milan
C.The Council of Nicaea
D.The Peace of Augsburg
Explanation: The policy conventionally called the Edict of Milan was an agreement between Constantine and Licinius in 313. It granted toleration and ordered confiscated Christian meeting places and other property returned. Calling it an 'edict' is conventional shorthand for a policy transmitted in later imperial correspondence.
7Which event is conventionally recognized in European historiography as marking the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the conclusion of the Classical Era?
A.The sack of Rome by the Visigoths under Alaric in AD 410
B.The deposition of Emperor Romulus Augustulus by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer in AD 476
C.The division of the empire between Arcadius and Honorius in AD 395
D.The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains against Attila's Huns in AD 451
Explanation: In AD 476, the Germanic mercenary general Odoacer deposed the young Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus. Instead of appointing a puppet emperor, Odoacer sent the western imperial insignia to the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno in Constantinople and declared himself King of Italy (rex Italiae), marking the constitutional end of the Western Roman Empire.
8In classical medieval feudalism, what was the legal relationship between a lord (senior) and his vassal (vassallus) formalized through the act of homage (homagium)?
A.A purely economic commercial tenancy governed by Roman contractual law without personal oaths
B.An unalterable hereditary ownership of land granted with no obligation to furnish soldiers or attend the lord's court
C.A reciprocal personal contract wherein the vassal pledged military service and counsel in exchange for a conditional land grant (fief/beneficium) and protection
D.A relationship of complete personal enslavement with no legal rights for the vassal
Explanation: Feudalism was characterized by a reciprocal bilateral contract between lord and vassal. Through the ceremony of homage and fealty, the vassal swore personal loyalty, military service (auxilium), and political advice (consilium). In return, the lord provided protection and invested the vassal with a landed estate (fief or beneficium) to support his military equipment and retainers.
9How did the transition from the two-field system to the three-field crop rotation system (háromnyomásos gazdálkodás) in high medieval European agriculture impact agrarian productivity?
A.It left two-thirds of arable land uncultivated as fallow each year to prevent soil erosion
B.It eliminated the need for animal traction by relying entirely on manual spade work
C.It caused catastrophic soil exhaustion by abolishing fallow land entirely across Western Europe
D.It increased productive land use by cultivating two-thirds of the fields (winter crops and spring crops) while leaving only one-third fallow
Explanation: The three-field system divided agricultural land into three sections: one planted in autumn with winter cereals (wheat or rye), one planted in spring with pulses or spring grains (barley, oats, peas), and one left uncultivated as fallow (ugar) to regenerate. This increased the annually cultivated acreage from 50% (under the two-field system) to roughly 66.7%, diversified food sources, reduced the risk of famine, and supported major demographic growth.
10What core constitutional issue was at stake in the Investiture Controversy between Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, culminated at Canossa (1077) and resolved by the Concordat of Worms (1122)?
A.Whether bishops and abbots should be invested with their spiritual offices and temporal estates by secular monarchs or by the Church
B.Whether the Pope had the right to dissolve the French monarchy and seize royal revenue
C.Whether Latin or German should be the official administrative language of the imperial chancery
D.Whether monastic orders were legally permitted to engage in international grain trade
Explanation: The Investiture Controversy centered on the right to invest high prelates (bishops and abbots) with the ring and pastoral staff (spiritual authority) and the scepter (temporal fiefs and secular jurisdiction). Gregorian reformers insisted on Church independence (libertas ecclesiae), while emperors relied on imperial bishoprics to govern Germany. The 1122 Concordat of Worms resolved the conflict through a compromise: free canonical election with spiritual investiture by the Church, followed by secular investiture of imperial fiefs by the emperor.

About the Érettségi Történelem Exam

Történelem is a compulsory Hungarian Érettségi subject covering Hungarian and world history through chronology, concepts, sources, maps, data, and argument. Középszint has a 180-minute, 100-point written paper divided between source-based short tasks and two selected essays, followed by a 15-minute, 50-point oral. Emelt szint has a 240-minute, 100-point written paper and 20-minute, 50-point oral. These 100 English MCQs are independent chronological and conceptual review; they are not an official translation or a substitute for primary-source analysis, map and data work, historical essays, or oral argument.

Exam sponsor: Oktatási Hivatal (Educational Authority, Hungary). The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Assessment

Question count not published by the exam provider

Time Limit

180 minutes written + 15-minute oral (középszint); 240 minutes written + 20-minute oral (emelt szint)

Passing Score

At least 25% overall and at least 12% in both the written and oral parts. Középszint grades: 25–39% = 2, 40–59% = 3, 60–79% = 4, 80–100% = 5. Emelt szint grades: 25–32% = 2, 33–46% = 3, 47–59% = 4, 60–100% = 5.

Exam / Certification Fees

Free for qualifying students taking examinations toward their first school-leaving certificate, including the first remedial or replacement examination before receiving it. For fee-paying 2026 entries, the per-subject fee is HUF 48,000 at középszint and HUF 81,000 at emelt szint.

Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

15%

Medieval Hungarian History & Árpád Dynasty

The Carpathian conquest (Honfoglalás), state foundation and Christianization under Saint Stephen I, county system, the Golden Bull of 1222, Mongol invasion and reconstruction under Béla IV, Angevin financial and administrative reforms, and Matthias Corvinus's Renaissance court.

12%

Ottoman Period & Principality of Transylvania

The 1526 Battle of Mohács, tripartite partition of Hungary (Royal Hungary, Ottoman Pashalik of Buda, Principality of Transylvania), border fortress defense, religious tolerance (Edict of Torda 1568), Zrínyi's campaigns, and Rákóczi's War of Independence.

14%

Dualism & Austro-Hungarian Compromise

The Reform Era, István Széchenyi and Lajos Kossuth, the April Laws of 1848, the 1848–49 Revolution and War of Independence, passive resistance, Ferenc Deák, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (Ausgleich) of 1867, and economic-social modernization under Dualism.

14%

World Wars & Interwar Hungary

Hungary in World War I, the 1918 Aster Revolution, Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919), the Treaty of Trianon (1920) and revisionism, the Bethlen consolidation, Horthy era politics, World War II alliance, the German occupation, and the Holocaust in Hungary.

12%

1956 Revolution & Kádár Era

Post-war communist takeover, Mátyás Rákosi's totalitarian regime, causes and outbreak of the 1956 Revolution, Imre Nagy's government, Soviet military suppression, retaliation, the Kádár consolidation, 'Goulash Communism', and the New Economic Mechanism.

8%

Democratic Transition (Rendszerváltás) & Modern Hungary

The erosion of the state socialist system, the Opposition Roundtable (EKA), reburial of Imre Nagy, dismantling of the Iron Curtain and border opening in 1989, proclamation of the Republic, free elections of 1990, Euro-Atlantic integration (NATO 1999, EU 2004), and constitutional governance.

12%

Ancient & Medieval World History

Birth of democracy in Athens, Roman Republic and imperial governance, Pax Romana, rise and spread of Christianity, feudalism, medieval papacy, Crusades, and the development of estates and parliaments in Western Europe.

13%

Early Modern & Modern Universal History

Age of Exploration, Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation, absolutism, Enlightenment philosophy, American and French Revolutions, Industrial Revolutions, 19th-century ideologies, World War I, totalitarian regimes (Fascism, Nazism, Stalinism), World War II, Cold War, and European integration.

Preparing for the Érettségi Történelem Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: At least 25% overall and at least 12% in both the written and oral parts. Középszint grades: 25–39% = 2, 40–59% = 3, 60–79% = 4, 80–100% = 5. Emelt szint grades: 25–32% = 2, 33–46% = 3, 47–59% = 4, 60–100% = 5.
  • Assessment: Question count not published by the exam provider
  • Time limit: 180 minutes written + 15-minute oral (középszint); 240 minutes written + 20-minute oral (emelt szint)
  • Exam / certification fees: Free for qualifying students taking examinations toward their first school-leaving certificate, including the first remedial or replacement examination before receiving it. For fee-paying 2026 entries, the per-subject fee is HUF 48,000 at középszint and HUF 81,000 at emelt szint. Official sources

Using Our Practice Resources

  • Work through all 100 available questions
  • Review every answer and explanation
  • Track weak areas and revisit them
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

Érettségi Történelem: Suggested Study Strategy

1Master the historical atlas (történelmi atlasz): learn how to extract economic data, military campaign routes, territorial partitions, and administrative borders quickly, as atlas use is legally permitted during the exam.
2Focus on the Hungarian historical timeline: memorize key landmark dates (e.g., 895–896, 1000, 1222, 1241–42, 1301, 1456, 1526, 1541, 1686, 1703–11, 1848–49, 1867, 1914–18, 1920, 1944–45, 1956, 1989–90).
3Develop source-criticism skills: practice identifying author bias, historical context, intended audience, and socioeconomic causation when examining primary excerpts, caricatures, or census charts.
4Understand technical constitutional and economic terms: ensure complete clarity on concepts such as 'ősiség' (aviticum), 'feudális anarchia', 'nemesi vármegye', 'kettős vámrendszer', 'áprilisi törvények', 'kiegyezés', 'revízió', and 'kollektivizálás'.
5Structure essays logically: practice the standard Hungarian essay rubric covering orientation in time and space, use of historical vocabulary, causal explanation, and source extraction.
6Balance universal and Hungarian history: review major global turning points (Athenian democracy, Roman law, feudal contracts, Reformation, French Revolution, Cold War) alongside national events, as universal history makes up ~40% of the total score.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the History Érettségi compulsory for all Hungarian secondary school students?

Yes. Under 100/1997. (VI. 13.) Korm. rendelet, History is one of the four compulsory general subjects (along with Hungarian Language and Literature, Mathematics, and a Foreign Language) required to obtain the secondary school leaving certificate (érettségi bizonyítvány).

What is the structure of the középszint (intermediate) History Érettségi written exam?

The középszint written exam lasts 180 minutes. Source-based short tasks are worth 50 points and the candidate writes two selected historical essays worth 50 points in total. Tasks use primary texts, maps, images, graphs, and chronologies across Hungarian and world history.

How does the oral examination work in History Érettségi?

The oral examination is worth 50 points. At középszint, the candidate draws a topic from a list of at least 20 topics established by the school's history department based on national guidelines. At emelt szint, topics are published centrally by the Oktatási Hivatal. The candidate receives 30 minutes of preparation time with primary sources and a historical atlas, followed by a 15-minute presentation.

What materials are permitted during the History Érettségi exam?

Candidates are permitted and strongly encouraged to use an approved secondary school historical atlas (középiskolai történelmi atlasz) throughout the written exam (or designated parts) and during oral preparation, as well as a printed Hungarian spelling dictionary (helyesírási szótár) during the essay section.

What passing score and grading scale are applied?

Candidates need at least 25% overall and at least 12% in both the written and oral examination parts. Középszint grades are 25–39% = 2, 40–59% = 3, 60–79% = 4, and 80–100% = 5. Emelt szint grades are 25–32% = 2, 33–46% = 3, 47–59% = 4, and 60–100% = 5.

What is the difference between középszint and emelt szint in History?

Középszint uses a 180-minute written examination followed by a school-level oral. Emelt szint uses a 240-minute written examination and a 20-minute oral organized through the designated examination system, with more demanding source and essay work. Higher-education programmes determine how results are used for admission.

How does this practice question bank prepare students for the official exam?

This is an independent English-language, four-option review of relevant historical knowledge and source-reasoning concepts. It is not an official translation or format simulation and cannot replace constructed short answers, source work, essays, Hungarian terminology, or oral practice.