Short answers, pulled from the story.
Matura is a Latin-derived name for the secondary school exit exam, also called a maturity diploma, used in more than twenty European countries including Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Ukraine. It is taken by students usually between the ages of 17 and 20 and must generally be passed to apply to a university.
Compulsory subjects vary by country but almost universally include a native language and mathematics. Austria and Poland also require a foreign language as a compulsory written subject, Hungary adds history to the mandatory list, and Slovenia requires a second or international modern language alongside native language and mathematics.
Austria replaced its older decentralized Matura system with the Zentralmatura in 2015. Under this system, all graduation exams across the country are held on the same day, and every student must complete a compulsory pre-scientific paper called the VWA, which becomes a separate grade on the Maturazeugnis.
The studniówka is a formal ball organized for Polish students and their teachers approximately one hundred days before the Matura examinations begin. A popular superstition holds that candidates, particularly female ones, should wear red underwear to the ball and then wear the same items on exam day for luck.
The Italian maturità is scored out of 100, with a passing mark of 60. The total is built from school-grade credits worth up to 40 points, two written exams worth up to 20 points each, and an oral exam worth up to 20 points, with an optional 5-point bonus. Students who reach 100 without needing the bonus can be awarded cum laude by the examining board.
Across Switzerland in 2015-20.1 percent of youth earned the gymnasial Matura, the highest-tier academic leaving certificate that grants direct entry to university. Rates varied significantly by canton, from a low of 11.7 percent in Glarus to a high of 32.1 percent in Basel-Stadt. Female candidates consistently outpaced male candidates in every canton.