These pivotal assessments hold the key to unlocking the world of higher education opportunities. Based on the grades obtained, these exams shape students’ eligibility for university admission.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, the student body comprises 276,211 students in the art division, 391,671 students in the sciences division and 98,658 students in the mathematics division.

In an attempt to prevent cheating, the ministry has introduced a groundbreaking measure for this year’s exams: the barcode system. This solution incorporates personalized barcodes on exam papers, including the bubble sheets as well as answer sheets for the essay questions, ensuring the unequivocal identification of each student.

A bubble sheet and notebook will be provided for students to fill in their answers, as exams will be electronically graded. Written answers will be scanned and sent to two separate graders to ensure accuracy, according to a previous statement by the ministry.

Embracing a comprehensive approach to assessment, this year's exams will reintroduce short essay questions, after a two-year absence, accounting for 15 percent of a student’s overall grade. The remaining 85 percent will consist of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to foster a comprehensive assessment that goes beyond rote memorization.

The first exams on Monday encompass religious studies and social studies, which are pass or fail, the statement continued.

All students will take the statistics and business exams on Tuesday, also a pass or fail.

Both groups of pass/fail exams do not contribute to a student’s final score.

Graded exams will begin the following week on 18 June. 

During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years, the exams consisted solely of multiple-choice questions MCQs, resulting in a pass rate of 75 percent and 74 percent respectively. This marked a decrease from the previous pass rate of 81.5 percent before the implementation of the new examination system.