Professionals federation says O’level results disconcerting

The Malta Federation of Professional Associations has balked at news of a 40% fail rate in O’levels among over 4,000 students who sat for core subjects Maltese, Maths, and English.

Of these, 40% failed Maths, 30.5% Maltese, while 23% failed English Language according to MATSEC's general statistics report for the May examination session.

From some 36,000 exam papers, around 20% of which received a ‘U’ (Unclassified) grade.

“It is clear that a large percentage of students are struggling to reach the minimum standards, especially in core subjects,” the MFPA said, “together with a dearth in chosen and regrettably failed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. This is and should be alarming, especially since these same students will be, in a year or two, starting their formal preparation for their future profession or occupation.”

The MFPA said the disconcerting results called for a deep analysis of the failings of the education system for government “to implement effective short, medium and long-term actions to mitigate and upscale education in Malta [...] The MFPA is ready to assist and participate actively in such a dialogue.”

O-levels are graded over a number scale between one to eight, with grades 1-5 considered a pass and grades 6-8 considered a fail in the chosen subject.

A ‘U’ grade generally indicates that the exam could not be marked according to MATSEC’s grading rubric and is also considered a failing grade.

Overall, some 60% of students achieved a passing grade in their O-levels, a slight decrease from the 62% registered in the May session of 2022.

Conversely, 32% obtained failing grades in 2023, a slight uptick from 30% the year prior. Some 7% of students were registered as absent from their exams, which remained largely on par with 6.7% of absentees registered in 2022.

In core subjects, when it comes to Mathematics, just over half of the students received a passing grade at 51%, while 40% received a failing grade, and 8% were absent.

Under a third (30.5%) of students received a failing grade for Maltese, while around 60% passed and 6% were absent. Almost three-quarters (72.98%) of students passed their English language exam, while 23% failed and 4% were absent.