Over 9,600 SPM candidates score straight As, 55% get pass in all subjects

A total of 9,696 candidates scored excellent results (A+, A and A-) in all of their subjects for the 2021 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, director-general of education Nor Zamani Abdol Hamid said today.

Announcing the results for 2021 in Putrajaya, she said the national average grade (GPN) for this year was 4.86.

The GPN in 2020 was 4.80. In 2019, it was 4.86, and 4.89, 4.90 and 5.05 in 2018, 2017 and 2016 respectively.

A lower GPN value indicates better performance.

“A total of 55.29% of the candidates obtained at least a pass in all subjects,” Nor Zamani said.

She added that 336,630 or 88.09% of the total 407,097 registered candidates were eligible to be awarded the SPM certificate.

“To receive a certificate, candidates must pass the Bahasa Melayu and history subjects,” she said, adding that a total of 975 or 69.10% of the 1,411 candidates with special needs were eligible to be awarded the SPM certificate.

When asked if she was satisfied with the results, Nor Zamani said they were generally encouraging as the candidates were the first cohort to follow the Secondary School Standard Curriculum (KSSM) in Form One in 2017.

“These candidates also went through a challenging learning experience in the new norm while they were in Form Four and Form Five due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We admit that it was not easy to prepare to sit for the examination with limited face-to-face teaching and learning sessions,” she said.

In line with the implementation of KSSM, the 2021 examination offered 95 subjects, namely 27 new subjects and 68 existing subjects, with a total of 180 examination papers.

SPM candidates also sat for the Bahasa Melayu and English oral tests and the practical science tests, Nor Zamani said.

She said the English subject was aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in line with the aspirations of the English Language Education Reform in Malaysia: The Roadmap 2015-2025.

“CEFR is an international standard used to gauge the level of language proficiency of students. It is also included in the candidates’ SPM certificates,” she said.

Nor Zamani also said that the examination board would conduct a detailed study on the 2021 results as this was the first time the exam had been implemented in a new format.

“We did not compare the results from 2021 with the previous year because this was the first cohort to follow the KSSM,” she said.