Given the importance of quality education for the prosperity of the individual and thus society, efficiency of educational practice is one of the biggest challenges a large number of the countries around the world are facing. In order to improve their education system and to give every student the opportunity for optimal development of their own competence, many countries resort to systematic testing of students and reporting to the public on the global success of each generation of students in the aforementioned tests. However, linking such testing with the rewards such as enrollment in the desired studies, and penalty - failure at enrollment in the desired study, is radically changing the function of the testing. If test result is a high stake in the future of a person, conditioning the students' progress in further education, as is the case with the state matriculation exams in the Republic of Croatia, then it is logical to assume that focus on performance modifies the entire process of teaching. The study aimed to examine the contribution of gender, attended high school and five facets of goal orientations (approaching goal orientation to learning, approaching goal orientation to performance, avoiding goal orientation to learning, avoiding goal orientation to performance and focus on the avoidance of effort) in explaining the beliefs of high school graduates. Since there is no Croatian questionnaire of students' beliefs about the state matriculation exam, an additional aim was the validation of the modified adaptation of Taylor's questionnaire on standardized testing in the Croatian sample of high school graduates and vocational schools graduates that will enable further research in this area of interest. The expected factor structure on Taylor's questionnaire on standardized testing is confirmed and because the measuring instrument has adequate psychometric properties, it can be used for the purpose of testing the general beliefs about the state matriculation exam. Furthermore, it is concluded that high school graduates have significantly more positive beliefs about the state graduation exam than graduates of vocational schools. Results also indicate that high school graduates have significantly more pronounced approaching goal orientations to learning and performance than graduates of vocational schools. It was found that students with more pronounced approaching goal orientation to high achievement and individuals with a tendency to avoid investing effort show more positive beliefs about the state matriculation exam. Individuals with more pronounced avoiding goal orientation, either to learning or performance, reported at the same time also more negative beliefs about state matriculation exam. Avoiding goal orientation to learning and performance are negative predictors of the quality of beliefs about the state matriculation exam, which means that students with more pronounced avoiding goal orientation have also more negative beliefs about state matriculation exam. In contrast, sex, the attended school, approaching goal orientation to performance and orientation to avoid effort proved to be positive predictors. Girls, gymnasium high school graduates, as well as individuals with more pronounced approaching goal orientation to high performance and students with a significant goal orientation to avoid effort investment show more positive beliefs about the state matriculation exam.