The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, is a national examination taken by all fifth-year secondary school students in Malaysia. It is set and examined by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia).

SPM is equivalent to the O-Level and is the second last public examination at the secondary school level before the entry into a first bachelor degree course at a university. The Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), being a pre-university study and equivalent to the A-Level, is the last public examination at the secondary school level. Other available pre-university studies in Malaysia include matriculation, foundation study, A-Level, etc., which are conducted at a college or university.

History [edit]

The SPM is equivalent to the British GCSE, and provides the opportunity for Malaysians to continue their studies to pre-university level. Up to 1978, the examination was handled by UCLES, which still advises the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate on standards. The English paper is separately graded by the national examination board and UCLES, and both grades will be displayed on the statement slip. On the real certificate, only the national examination board's grade is listed. The minimum requirement to get a certificate is a pass in both Bahasa Malaysia and Sejarah.

Generally, the SPM is taken at the age of 17, though students who attended pre-secondary school class would take it at the age of 18. Previously, students who successfully passed their Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS) examination at Primary Three and chose to skip a year of primary school education would take their SPM a year earlier, at the age of 16. This was discontinued in 2000. Students who are taught at home generally take the SPM at some point at the end of their secondary education as well. The students must pass two compulsory subjects, specifically Sejarah and Bahasa Malaysia, to qualify themselves to be eligible to receive the examination certificate.

Subjects [edit]

Compulsory subjects [edit]

Certain subjects are made compulsory for students. These are:^[1][2]

Elective subjects [edit]

Arts and Health [edit]

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Languages and Literature [edit]

Technical and Vocational [edit]

Science and Mathematics [edit]

In 2003, the medium of instruction for the science and mathematics subjects was switched from Malay to English. Due to this transition, students taking science and mathematics subjects can choose to respond in the examinations in either English or Malay. The Ministry of Education has since announced a reversal of this policy, set to take effect in 2021.^[3]

Social Sciences & Religion [edit]

Results [edit]

The evaluation scheme is fully exam-based. The examination for SPM usually takes place around November and lasts for more than 3 weeks. Papers are also scheduled in June for students who wish to resit for examinations they failed the previous year, but only for the compulsory subjects.

When releasing the results, only the letter grades (and not the actual scores) are made known to the candidates. Candidates may request a remarking (regrading) if they suspect errors in the original marking. Although no list of rankings is released to the public, the names of the top ranked students in the country and in each state are released to the press. These students may achieve the level of temporary celebrities, and may even be approached by companies to advertise their products.^[4] Politicians usually visit some of these top ranked students a day before the official results in order to congratulate them. Because the SPM examination is the final nationally standardised examination taken by the majority of Malaysians, many scholarships are awarded based on SPM results.

Since 2010, however, the Ministry of Education has imposed a 10-subject limit on every candidate, while lowering the minimum number of subjects from 8 to 6. Students are allowed to take 2 additional subjects (comprising Arabic, Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Kada­zandusun languages and Bible Knowledge) but they will not be taken into consideration for government scholarships.^[5]

Grade system [edit]

Candidates are assigned grades based on their scores in each subject. The exact grading scale used every year has never been made public.

Since 2009, grading system used has a range from A+ (the highest grade) to G (for "gagal" or fail). The previous system assigned a grade point and a letter to each range, with 1A ("1" being the grade point and "A" the letter grade) as highest range and 9G the lowest.

The table below shows the comparison between previous grade system and the current one.

References [edit]

1. ^ "Apa itu SPM? (Malay)[[Category:Articles with Malay language external links]][[Category:Articles with Malay language external links]]". MyExam.com. Retrieved 22 November 2011.  Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
2. ^ "Secondary School Subjects (Malay)[[Category:Articles with Malay language external links]][[Category:Articles with Malay language external links]]". Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Retrieved 22 November 2011.  Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
3. ^ "PPSMI: Dr Mahathir minta undian pembaca blog". Malaysiakini.com. 9 Julai 2009. 
4. ^ Stamp of approval
5. ^ "Languages and Bible Knowledge as electives". The Star Online. 25 December 2009.