Hungary has been experiencing major changes and innovation initiatives in public education in the last decade. Transparency of school processes and a focus on outcome and effectiveness have become major issues. Accordingly, the methodology of making relevant data accessible to those concerned has gained major importance. In terms of assessment, public education policy encourages school-based self-evaluation and quality assurance. However, the need for a system of external evaluation which stimulates school development has also emerged. Assessment and evaluation are regulated by the Act on Public Education. Prior to 1990 Hungary belonged to the bloc of Socialist countries. This determined Hungary's political and social structures and affected, to a great extent, the education system. From 1945, the basic institutional unit of the education system was the primary school: an 8-year comprehensive school for pupils between the ages of 6 and 14. A national-level and centralized system of inspection was established to monitor the full execution of curricular requirements. In this period, the national assessment of student performance was not considered very important. However, changes could be felt as early as 1968, when Hungary joined the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). In public education there was only one type of examination: the secondary school leaving examination taken by school leavers in general and vocational secondary schools. This paper discusses the objectives, organization, and use of results of the national testing of pupils in Hungary. This paper contains the following parts: (1) General Overview of Pupil Assessment; (2) Historical Background to National Testing and its Political Framework; (3) Aims and Organizations of National Testing; and (4) Impact of National Testing. (Contains 2 footnotes.)