The MATSEC Examinations Board today held a presentation regarding the results of the Main Session 2017.

It was announced that the results of the Main 2017 Secondary Education Certificate [SEC], the Intermediate Matriculation [IM] and the Advanced Matriculation [AM] examinations were published today Friday. School candidates may collect their certificates from their respective school in February 2018, while private candidates may collect their certificates from the Examinations Department, The Mall, Floriana [Malta candidates] or from the Examinations Centre, Victoria Gozo [Gozo Candidates] in February 2018.

Advanced level subjects with the lowest percentage of pass rates, meaning that the student was awarded anywhere between an A to an E, were that of Accounting, Marketing and Pure Maths respectively.

A proportion of 64.9 per cent got somewhere between an A and E in Accounting, the figure rises to 66 per cent for Marketing, and 66.4% in Pure Maths.

The subject with the highest percentage of pass rate was Geography at 98.4%, however it must be said that only 63 students sat for their Geography A-level. English was the most sat for exam with a total of 867 students, and the subject with the least students being both Arabic and Applied Mathematics at three students each.

Statistics released by the MATSEC board today show that roughly, only one out of three A-level students managed to achieve the grades needed in order to gain entry into the University of Malta.

Just 34 per cent got their full Matriculation certificate. Out of a total of 4,106 students who sat for the May exams, 1,399 were awarded the certificate. This is in line with what was achieved in 2016, when 1,391 had managed to be awarded the certificate.

To gain entry into the University of Malta as a Maltese citizen, the one needs a Matriculation Certificate that is made up of two Advanced level subjects, three Intermediate subjects and the mandatory Systems of Knowledge. Students must pass in at least three subjects and manage a minimum of 44 points in accordance with the Matsec rating scale.

Not all students would have been sitting for their A-levels in order to gain entry into the University of Malta, with some planning for alternative learning while others have plans to go to University abroad.

For those who wish to gain entry into the University of Malta however will go through a second run during the September resit sessions.

A proportion of 99.3 per cent received their results via text message, a service that has been in use for several years now.

Today's results have further fuelled parent's concerns that the MATSEC board have been increasing the level of difficulty in both A-level and O-level examinations year after year.

From the advanced level subjects, just 48.2 per cent was awarded between an A and a C in Pure Mathematics, 41 per cent of students who sat for Accounting received between an A and a C, 42.3 per cent of students who sat for English got between an A and C and the figure rises to 57.1 per cent for those who sat for their Maltese.

In total, 51 students are suspected of cheating on their exams, 432 students had their fees waived, 808 supervisors and 771 examiners oversaw the exam period, 47,487 registrations for various subjects and 114,633 exam papers were printed.

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The Ministry for Education and Employment in collaboration with Jobsplus has launched the free SEC revision classes initiative for students who will be sitting for the Biology, English, Maltese, Mathematics and Physics resit in September 2017.

The classes will be an intensive programme running between the end of July 2017 and end of August 2017. Students who got 6, 7, U or were marked absent in the five subjects above will be entitled for these classes in both Malta and Gozo.

Students can choose to take classes in up to three subjects, including a choice of only one science subject (Biology or Physics). This is an intensive class which will demand the students' full attention, especially those who are resetting more than one subject.

Students may follow free revision classes up to a maximum of three subjects, and can apply on youthguarantee.edu.mt/revision by Monday 17 July 2017 at 1pm.  Students applying for the revision classes do not automatically apply for the resit, therefore it is important to note that one must also apply for the resit with MATSEC separately.

This initiative is within the framework of the Youth Guarantee and the project is part-financed by the European Social Fund, Investing in Human Capital to create more opportunities and promote the well-being of society.

Outstanding success in SEC vocational results and improvement in results registered in most subjects

In a seperate statement, the education ministry also said that a total of 89.1% of SEC students sitting for their vocational subject have achieved a grade 1 to 5 in their examination. T"his result shows that the five SEC vocational subjects (agribusiness, engineering technology, health and social care, hospitality and IT) have been well-received by students and further emphasises the need of the vocational and applied pathways in the education system."

Improvements in most subjects were registered amongst the 9,516 candidates who sat for the MATSEC examinations in May 2017, from previous years. In the SEC level, there where increases in pass marks in the English, Maltese and Mathematics subjects when compared to 2016. 

69.9% of English language students and 68% of Maltese language were awarded pass grades between 1 to 5, an increase from 65.6% and 65.3% respectively from 2016. 54.5% of O-level students passed in Mathematics while 67.2% passed in Physics.