231,982 first time O/L students qualify to follow A/L; no plans to identify top 10

Almost 75 percent of students who sat the GCE Ordinary Level examination for the first time this year have qualified to follow the GCE Advanced Level and those who have a minimum of five passes can join A/L classes even if they have failed in mathematics, Examinations Commissioner General L.M.D. Dharmasena said.

Of the 311,321 students who sat the exam for the first time, 231,982 or 74.5 percent qualified for the Advanced Level.

A total of 518,245 school and private candidates sat the 2021 exam held in

May-June this year.

“This year, 10,863 (3.49%) students have obtained 9As. But, in terms of an Education Ministry circular, even a student who has received five passes and has failed in Mathematics can sit the G.C.E. A/L examination,” Mr. Dharmasena said.

There is a slight drop in this year’s pass rate. According to statistics, 225,539 students (73.84%) passed the exam in 2019, and 236,015 students (76.59%) in 2020.

The commissioner urged students to study what was happening in the world and choose suitable AL subjects to get a job, instead of choosing subjects in trend.

“Obtaining public-sector jobs will be a more difficult task in the future. Therefore, I request the students to choose subjects wisely, especially technology and English language-based subjects, so that they can get jobs in the private sector as well,” he said.

He said the Examination Department would not release the results of the top ten students this time.

“There is no competition in this general exam and there is no need to identify the top ten students. This is a general subject-based exam and an opening for higher studies. We all have to understand that,” Mr. Dharmasena said.