The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results for 2021 have been released and they showed more students making the cut to progress to a secondary school under the new scoring system.
This is the first cohort of students who scored under the new Achievement Level (AL) scoring system. They received their PSLE results on Wednesday (24 November, 2021) at 11am.
The school candidates received their results in their respective primary schools as instructed. Those who were unwell, self-isolating due to COVID-19 or who preferred an alternative way to getting their results, got to view their results online through the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board’s (SEAB) Candidates Portal here.
Image source: Facebook / Ministry of Education, Singapore
PSLE Results 2021 Saw More Than 90% Of Students Making It To Secondary School
To be exact, 98.4 per cent of Primary 6 students who sat for the examinations have been cleared for secondary school courses as per the results for PSLE 2021. A total of 39,119 students sat for the examination this year.
According to The Straits Times, this matches the results from back in 2016 and remains the best performance since the national exam was introduced in 1960.
In a press release on Wednesday by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the PSLE results for 2021 also saw 68.4 per cent of the candidates qualify for the Express course.
Meanwhile, 18.9 per cent of students are eligible for the Normal (Academic) level with 11.1 per cent for the Normal (Technical) course.
MOE added that 65 per cent of students who qualified for the Normal course may choose to take at least one subject at a more demanding level in Secondary 1. This is more than the 47 per cent figure from last year’s cohort.
“For the remaining candidates, they may choose to re-attempt the PSLE next year,” says the ministry.
Image source: Facebook / Chan Chun Sing
First Cohort Of School Candidates Scoring Under The New AL System
With the new AL scoring system, students will receive ALs of 1 to 8 for each of their four subjects. Here, 1 is the best score and 8 is the lowest they can get. The sum of these ALs will be their overall score.
“The outcomes under the AL scoring system have remained very stable. So we hope that the students and the parents will feel assured about the PSLE and about the new scoring system,” says MOE’s director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong as per CNA.
He adds, “We made a deliberate shift away from the old T-score system so students do not chase the last mark. An obsessive over-emphasis on exam results is not healthy for the development of our children.”
In their statement, MOE says the new scoring system aims to:
- Reduce fine differentiation of students’ examination results at a young age
- Recognise students’ level of achievement regardless of how their peers have performed
- Allow students and their parents to explore a wider range of secondary school choices
Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing, also shared that he was proud of this year’s cohort of school candidates in a Facebook post on November 24. He said the collection of their PSLE results for 2021 “is but one of many milestones.”
“As you embark on the next phase of your learning, do pursue the path that will build on your strengths,” he wrote.
“Looking ahead, there will be many opportunities for you to explore your interests and develop your abilities in our diverse range of secondary schools,” the minister concluded.
Lead image source from Facebook / Chan Chun Sing.
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