Public school students score good results for IGCSE and Delf |01 February 2013

Speaking in an interview yesterday at the ministry’s headquarters, Arnold Chang-Pen-Tive, the assessment development officer at the Centre for Curriculum, Assessment and Teacher Support, said the results are comparable to those achieved in the previous years.

Out of the S5 population of 1171, 1041 had registered for the IGCSE and 1055 for Delf.
This represents 89% of the S5 cohort who sat the IGCSE and 90% for Delf, and these figures are similar to the year 2011.

Mr Chang-Pen-Tive said the number of entries registered for 2012 was 3369.

Compared to 2011, there was an increase in the number of entries for subjects such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Geography, History, First Language English and Co-ordinated Science.

The highest increase was in Co-ordinated Science with 46 entries more in 2012 than the previous year.

There was a decrease in entries for Art and Design, English as a second language, Mathematics and Combined Science.

As for the pass rate, it was 94% for 2012, an increase of 2% over that for the year 2011.
“Art and Design, and Co-ordinated Science have retained the 100% pass rate, meaning that all students who have registered for these subjects have passed their exams,” he said.

“It is good to note that we have seen improvements in four subjects and Mathematics has made a significant progress.”

“In 2011, the pass rate was at 84% and now we have seen an increase of 8% in 2012 which means that it is now 92%,” he said.

Mr Chang-Pen-Tive added that this is seen as a great improvement and it shows that a lot is being done at school level to improve students’ performance in Mathematics.

The pass rate for Delf was 96% in 2012 and has increased by 4% from 2011 which was 92%.
Mr Chang-Pen-Tive said the results of A1 have shown the most improvement with a pass rate of 98% compared to 2011 which was 88%.

An increase in the pass rate for A2 and B1 was also recorded. The pass rate for A1 was 99% for 2012 and 96% for B1.

As for B2, there has been a slight decrease in the pass rate – from 84% in 2011 to 82% in 2012.
In 2012, there was an increase in the percentage of students scoring higher grades i.e. grade C or higher.

The percentage of students scoring from A* to C have increased by 2%, which means it is now 32%.
Mr Chang-Pen-Tive said subjects like Combined Science, Co-ordinated Science, Mathematics and ICT have shown significant improvement.

In 2011, only 18% of students managed to score between A* to C but in 2012 this percentage increased by 8%.

First language English recorded 69% of students scoring between A* to C, which is the highest percentage compared to other subjects.

Combined Science was the subject which recorded the lowest percentage of students scoring between C and higher, with only 5%.

In a press release, the ministry congratulated the students for their hardwork and called on them to continue to put extra effort so that results will keep improving in the years to come.

The ministry also wishes to thank all teachers who have worked hard to help the students and the parents for their support.

Mr Chang-Pen-Tive said the ministry wishes that the maximum number of students get the chance to sit for these exams and more students obtain higher grades.