O-Level results out

THE November 2017 Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) Ordinary level results were released yesterday with a drop in the national pass rate and a slight increase in the English Language paper pass rate being recorded.

In a statement, Zimsec board chairman Professor Eddie Mwenje said candidates who sat for the examination will be able to collect their results on Monday from their centres.

This year’s results were delayed by the nullification of English Paper 2 results after authorities discovered widespread cheating and ordered that pupils should re-write the exam.

The matter spilled into court when two parents challenged the nullification and the High Court ruled that the overall English exam results should be based on the pupils’ English Paper 1 performance.

Prof Mwenje said the national pass rate had decreased slightly compared to the previous year.

“Total candidates who wrote five or more subjects were 189 684 and 49 982 obtained Grade C or better in five or more subjects, yielding a 26,35 percent pass rate. There is a slight decrease in the pass rate compared to 2016 when the pass rate was 27,92 percent,” he said.

Prof Mwenje said the total number of candidates who sat for the November 2017 O-Level examination was 332 473, a 14,25 percent increase from the November 2016 entry.

He said there was an improved performance in English Language which was graded on one paper following the High Court ruling.

“The quality of work on the paper showed that the candidates who wrote the paper were of a better quality than those of 2016 resulting in a slight increase of five percent,” he said.

Prof Mwenje said of the 187 606 school candidates, 162 920 wrote five subjects and above resulting in 46 755 passing five or more subjects with a grade C or better.

“This translates to a pass rate of 28,69 percent compared to 29,96 percent for 2016. For private candidates, out of the 144 867 candidates, a total of 3 227 passed at least five subjects, yielding a pass rate of 12,05 percent at grade C or better compared to 13,40 percent for 2016,” he said.

Prof Mwenje said in the four categories of Special Needs candidates, the highest performance by these candidates was in the Enlarged print category where 36,4 percent of the 68 candidates passed five or more subjects with a grade C or better.

“In the Hard of Hearing, Braille and Physical Impairment categories candidates achieved 10 percent, 16,67 percent and 31,25 percent respectively,” said Prof Mwenje.

He said the registration deadline for the June 2018 examination is March 23 and there would be no late entry facility for this examination session. — @AuxiliaK