Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Totally Explained

Everything about The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia totally explained

The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, is a national examination taken by all fifth form students in Malaysia. It is set and examined by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia).

History

The SPM is equivalent to the British GCSE, and provides the opportunity for Malaysians to continue their studies to pre-university level. Up to 1978, the examination was handled by UCLES, which still advises the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate on standards. The English paper is separately graded by the national examination board and UCLES, and both grades will be displayed on the statement slip. On the real certificate, only the national examination board's grade is listed. The minimum requirement to get a certificate is a pass in Malay.
Generally, the SPM is taken at the age of 17, though students who attended pre-secondary school class would take it at the age of 18. Students who successfully passed their Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS) examination at Primary Three would take their SPM a year earlier, at the age of 16. The PTS was introduced to Primary Three students in 1996 but was discontinued in 2000, due to controversies as it allows students from Primary Three to proceed directly to Primary Five at the next academic year without going through Primary Four. Students who are taught at home generally take the SPM at some point at the end of their secondary education as well.

Subjects

Compulsory subjects

Certain subjects are made compulsory for students. These are:

Bahasa Melayu / Malay Language
Bahasa Inggeris / GCE O Level English
Pendidikan Islam / Islamic Education - For all Muslim students
Pendidikan Moral / Moral Education - For all non-Muslim students
Sejarah / History
Mathematics / Matematik
Science / Sains - For Commerce, and Literature and Arts Stream only

Elective subjects

Pure Science Stream / Aliran Sains Tulen

Additional Mathematics / Matematik Tambahan

Physics / Fizik

Chemistry / Kimia

Biology / Biologi

English for Science and Technology / Bahasa Inggeris untuk Sains dan Teknologi

Religious Science Stream / Aliran Sains Agama

Additional Mathematics / Matematik Tambahan

Physics / Fizik

Chemistry / Kimia

Biology / Biologi

English for Science and Technology / Bahasa Inggeris untuk Sains dan Teknologi

Pendidikan Al-Quran dan As-Sunnah / Al-Quran and As-Sunnah Studies

Pendidikan Syariah Islamiah / Islamic Syariah Studies (Islamic Law)

Tasawwur Islam / Islamic Features (Gambaran Islam)

Humanitarial Science Stream / Aliran Sains Kemanusiaan

Additional maths / Matematik tambahan

Physics / Fizik

Chemistry / Kimia

Biology / Biologi

English for Science and Technology / Bahasa Inggeris untuk Sains dan Teknologi

Prinsip Perakaunan / Principles of Accountancy

Ekonomi Asas / Basic Economics

Perdagangan / Commerce

Commerce Stream / Aliran Perdagangan

Additional Mathematics / Matematik Tambahan

Additional Science / Sains Tambahan

Prinsip Perakaunan / Principles of Accountancy

Ekonomi Asas / Basic Economics

Perdagangan / Commerce

Literature and Arts Stream / Aliran Kesusasteraan dan Kesenian

Additional Science / Sains Tambahan

Geografi / Geography

Kesusasteraan Melayu / Malay Literature

Literature in English / Kesusasteraan Inggeris

Kesusasteraan Cina / Chinese Literature

Kesusasteraan Tamil / Tamil Literature

Pendidikan Seni Visual / Visual Arts Studies

Ekonomi Rumah Tangga / Household Economics

Pendidikan Muzik / Music Studies

Additional Subjects

Bahasa Cina / Chinese Language

Bahasa Tamil / Tamil Language

Bahasa Arab Komunikasi / Arabic Communication Language

Bahasa Arab Tinggi / Higher Arabic Language

Bahasa Punjabi / Punjabi Language

Bahasa Perancis / French Language

Bahasa Iban / Ibanese Language

Pengetahuan Sains Sukan / Sports Science Knowledge

Sains Pertanian / Agriculture Science

Bible Knowledge As Malaysia is revolutionizing its education system, science and mathematics subjects are being tested in English. Other subjects are still being tested in Malay. Due to this, the SPM Papers for these science and mathematics subjects from 2003 up to 2006 have questions in both English and Malay. The first year to do the Science and Mathematics papers in English will be the students taking the November 2007 papers. In 2003, a new SPM subject, English for Science and Technology (EST) was introduced. It is an English test based on science and technology. Inexplicably (yet as usual), students set to take the English Science and Mathematics SPM papers in 2007 are still required to do this subject.
The minimum number of subjects that students have to sit for is 8. Students generally take 9 subjects, if they're in the Arts stream, or 10 subjects, if they're in the Science stream (after the introduction of EST in 2003). However, due to the competitive nature of receiving scholarships to further studies, there has been pressure to take as many subjects as possible. Previously a maximum of 21 subjects was allowed to be taken, but the number had been reduced to 12 in 2007.

Results

The evaluation scheme is 100% exam-based. The examination for SPM usually takes place around early November and lasts for more than 3 weeks. There are also papers in June, but only for the compulsory subjects. The subjects are graded as such:

9G The results are officially released around early March or late February. Due to the standardised nature of the exam, the results are generally well publicised. Although no list of rankings is released to the public, the names of the top ranked students in the country and in each state are released to the press. These students may achieve the level of temporary celebrities, and are approached by companies to advertise their products. Politicians usually visit some of these top ranked students a day before the official results in order to congratulate them. There is some controversy with the national rankings, where a string of straight 1As are preferred to a combination of 1As and 2As. The highest number of 1As achieved so far are 20A1s 1A2, achieved by Azali Azman in the 2007 SPM examinations.
Because the SPM examination is the final nationally standardised examination taken by the majority of Malaysians, a lot of scholarships are awarded based on results. Generally, it's considered that the more 1As you achieve, the better you are. Thus, there's pressure to take as many subjects as possible in order to secure a scholarship. This is especially true of non-bumiputera students, since the government allocates a certain amount of scholarships to bumiputera students. However, things are expected to change as the government decided to take action by limiting the number of subjects, which means students can only take maximum 12 subjects for their SPM, which has now been put into effect.

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