FAQ's

 

The STPM study, whether of the existing one or that of the new one, takes up a duration of three terms (one and a half year). The existing STPM examination is administered at the end of the third term, while the new STPM examination is administered three times, at the end of each term.

 

 

The new features in the STPM syllabus are

1. the total content of the curriculum for a subject is divided into three parts, one part for one term
2. the number of teaching hours are provided to accommodate teacher's in their plan for the teaching and learning process (T & L)
3. learning outcomes are provided to act as a guide to teachers and students on the scope and what is to be tested for each title and subtitle
4. candidates are required to do practical, course work or field work through the School Based Assessment (SBA) for all subjects except for Chinese Language, Tamil Language, Literature in English and Further Mathematics.

 

 

The new features of the new STPM examination are

1. the examination is carried out at the end of each term
2. the assessment is carried out through written examination and SBA
3. the candidate is permitted to repeat the examination of each term to improve the results

 

 

The new STPM examination will be implemented in 2012.

 

 

The terminal system has been changed to be aligned with that of the post-secondary education system and that of the study system of the Higher Learning Institutions (HLA).

 

 

The total time for T&L in the new STPM is unchanged it remains at 240 hours, which is equivalent to 360 hours, 40 minutes per time. The term study is in accordance with the existing school term.

 

 

Yes.

 

 

 

The eligibility requirements to sit for the new STPM examination are, the candidate has to pass Malay Language examination* in the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) examination, and has one of the following requirements:

1. SPM in 1999 or previous years
2. SPM (Vocational)
3. Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE)
4. Federation of Malaya Certificate of Education
5. Cambridge School Certificate
6. GCE/SAP (Malaysia or Cambridge, with three normal passes acquired**in one sitting of an examination)
7. SPM in 2000 to 2010 which was obtained in one examination with
   1. a minimum grade of C for three subjects, or
   2. a minimum grade of C for two subjects and a pass in four other subjects

Candidates who possess the qualifications as listed above must obtain the qualification for at least two years before taking the STPM examination.

Candidates with overseas qualifications that are equivalent to SPM must seek prior permission to sit for the STPM examination from the Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC).

* Candidates who fulfill the conditions (g) but have failed in the Malay subject can use the pass results obtained for Malay language that was taken in from the SPM repeat examination. Candidates who come from abroad are exempted from the requirement to pass Malay language at the SPM level.

** Normal level passes in the GCE / SAP is translated as a distinction at SPM/MCE level.

 

 

School candidates are required to register only once, which in the first term, to sit for the new STPM examination of these three terms.

Private school candidates and private candidates can register at the first, second term and third term.

 

 

Registration to sit for the examination for all types of candidates should be made via online. The Principal/examination School Secretary/candidate is required to surf the MEC portal, http://www.mpm.edu.my or http://www.mesp.gov.my/online for registration purposes.

 

 

Late registration is only permitted for candidates who fail to enter universities. Candidates are required to make a late registration within the duration of one week after the admission to Public Institutions of Higher Learning (PIHL) is issued.

 

 

Subjects offered in the new STPM examination are

No.	Subject Code	Subject
1.	900	General Studies
2.	910	Malay Language
3.	911	Chinese Language
4.	912	Tamil Language
5.	913	Arab Language
6.	920	Literature in English
7.	922	Communicative Malay Literature
8.	930	Syariah
9.	931	Usuluddin
10.	940	History
11.	942	Geography
12.	944	Economy
13.	946	Business Studies
14.	948	Accounting
15.	950	Mathematics (M)
16.	954	Mathematics (T)
17.	956	Further Mathematics
18.	958	Information and Communications Technology
19.	960	Physics
20.	962	Chemistry
21.	964	Biology
22.	4966	Sports Sciences
23.	970	Visual Arts

 

 

The new STPM is an open certificate. Candidates may choose any of the subjects, which are subject to the restrictions of certain subjects. The maximum number of subjects that can be taken is five, including General Studies. For the purpose of admission to the PIHL, the best results for four subjects will be taken into account, including General Studies.

 

 

Candidates who take subjects outside the packages offered at the school are required to sit for a written examination paper, the paper 5 in lieu of a School-Based Assessment (SBA). If a subject does not offer Paper 5, the candidate is required to undertake coursework as private individual candidates.

 

 

The basic fee for the examination is RM120.00, while the fees for each subject is RM90.00.

 

 

The fee to repeat examination for each paper is RM50.00.

 

 

The decision on whether the implementation of research projects and colloquium undertaken by Form Six students will be continued or not is subject to the jurisdiction of the Daily School Management Division (Form Six Unit).

 

 

The components contained in SBA are the coursework report, coursework presentation and question and the answer session.

 

 

The implementation of coursework in done in accordance with the requirements of subjects, such as in the table below.

No.	Subject	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
1.	General Studies		v
2.	Malay Language		v	v
3.	Arab Language			v
4.	Malay Communicative Literature		v
5.	Syariah		v
6.	Usuluddin			v
7.	History		v
8.	Geography			v
9.	Economy			v
10.	Business Study			v
11.	Accounting			v
12.	Mathematics (M)	v
13.	Mathematics (T)	v
14.	Information and Communications Technology	v
15.	Physics	v
16.	Chemistry	v
17.	Biology	v
18.	Sports Sciences	v
19.	Visual Arts			v

 

 

School candidates undertake the coursework with guidance and examination that is carried by their respective teachers. Private school candidates undertake the coursework with the guidance of their respective teachers, but the examination of coursework is done by an examiner that is appointed by MEC. Individual private candidates undertake the coursework individually, and the examination of course work is carried out by an examiner appointed by MEC.

 

For subjects in group A, school candidates, private school candidates and individual private candidates are required to take Paper 4, which is coursework.

For subjects in group B, the school candidate and private school candidate that have been approved by MEC are required to take Paper 4, which coursework. Individual private candidates and private school candidates who have not been approved by MEC for course work are required to take Paper 5, which is a written practical test.

For subjects in group C, all candidates are required to take Paper 4 and Paper 5, which is course work.

For subjects in group D, all candidates are required to take Paper 5, which is the coursework.

For subjects in group E, school candidates are required to take Paper 4, which is coursework/fieldwork. On the other hand, private school candidates and individual private candidates are required to take Paper 5, which is an alternative to field work (written test) for Geography and field work test for accounting.

For subjects in group F, school candidates and private school candidates whom have been approved by MEC are required to take Paper 4, which is the course work. Candidates from private schools and individual private candidates who have not been approved by MEC cannot take this subject.

For subjects in group G, school candidates are required to take Paper 3, which is the project. Private school candidates and individual private candidates are required to take Paper 4, which is the written test.

 

 

Candidates can obtain information on how to do the coursework through the MEC portal.

 

 

The time required for meeting or consultation sessions that are specifically related to SBA in the teaching schedule is not exclusively determined.

 

 

Yes, especially for the Geography subject, the selection of fieldwork location should take into account the distance from the school as this would involve transportation costs and travel time. The commuting from the location should take no more than two hours, and students have at least six hours to do field research in the field.

 

 

A letter of authorisation or letter of official identification is not issued by MEC. Schools need to manage production of the letter.

 

 

The presentation is carried out individually or in groups, depending on the coursework requirements for a particular subject.

 

 

Yes. Candidates who had registered late are required to do the coursework.

 

 

Candidates who register late are required to complete the SBA coursework according to the needs of the subjects taken.

 

 

For all subjects, the coursework must be submitted to the teacher/examiner on the date set by MEC. The candidate's failure to submit their coursework on the specified date will result in a candidate to be not given any scores, and the candidate's results for these subjects will not be issued.

 

 

These candidates are required to submit their application letter together with a medical letter from their doctor certifying their condition to MEC during registration for the exclusion of coursework. MEC will examine the application of the respective special needs candidate, and the exemption will be granted based on the level of inability of the candidate.

 

 

Candidates must submit their coursework according to what has been completed. MEC will review the candidate's application, and special consideration will be given based on the level of extremity of the accident experienced by the candidate.

 

 

MEC will appoint a coordinator in accordance with the state/zone. Coordination meetings between the coordinator and the chief inspector will be held before the SBA marking begins, and the coordinator will give a briefing to all the teachers involved in the SBA marking. During the marking process, the coordinator will monitor and moderate the examiners' grading.

 

The Security of the coursework is the responsibility of the teachers. Candidates are also advised to keep a softcopy of the material sent to the teachers. MEC will not be responsible for the safety of material sent to the teachers.

 

 

The coursework material should be disposed of in accordance with the procedures set by MEC.

 

 

Teachers can obtain information on the method of conducting coursework through Eduweb TV (www.eduwebtv.com). Teachers can also refer to the State Jurulatih Utama if there is any doubt.

 

 

Teachers who assess their own candidates will not be paid SBA marking allowances. The allowance is payable only to teachers who are appointed as SBA examiners for private school candidates and individual private candidates.

 

 

The subject teachers involved must provide an explanation to parents on the implementation of SBA, and the possibility that the candidates may be required to be outside the school for the purpose of the course work. Schools may issue guidelines to parents for information regarding the course work requirements.

 

 

Each examination term will be conducted during the school holidays, as follows:

1. 
   The First Term and the Third Term ¿ the examination is held in November/ December
2. Second Term – examination is held in the month of May/June. The number of examination days per term is for five day.

 

 

The period taked to answer written tests differs according to paper, which is between 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours.

 

 

The examination results will be issued in each term. The SBA results will be issued together with the results for the respective term. The result of the subject is the aggregate outcome of three terms and SBA.

 

 

The appeal can be made to MEC, together with its payment.

 

 

Yes, candidates can repeat the examination without making a prior appeal to MEC.

 

 

Candidates wishing to repeat SBA to improve on their examination results cannot do the coursework again. Candidates are required to sit for a written examination paper in place of SBA. If there is no such paper for a subject, then the SBA marks obtained in the previous STPM will be used to repeat the SBA score. This facility cannot be used if the candidate repeats STPM two years or more after the first examination.

 

 

Candidates cannot repeat the coursework for the first term, second term and third term.

 

 

Repeat candidates may attend classes with other candidates, for the subject they wish to repeat. This matter depends upon permission obtained from the school.

 

 

The measures adopted to prevent plagiarism activities in the production of course work by the candidates are teachers are to brief candidates on plagiarism before starting their coursework. This briefing is an effort to educate and provide effective prevention so that the candidate fully understands the issue of plagiarism. The use of log books by each candidate serves as an ongoing supervision record by the teacher. As such, plagiarism can be prevented in advance. In addition to that, teachers should remind the candidate about the risk of plagiarism, which, if found guilty, the examination results of the candidates will be revoked, and the candidates would not be permitted to reproduce the coursework.

 

 

Teachers are required to immediately submit a written report on the plagiarism case, together with the evidence for prompt action.

 

 

The criteria for the selection and appointment of examiners is as follows:

1. 
   has qualifications and specialisations in the field (except for teachers of the General Studies subject), with at least a first degree,
2. has teaching experience in the respective subject for at least three years,
3. is currently teaching the respective subject,
4. is the academic teacher for the respective subject of Form Six,
5. priority in selection is given to teachers who are currently or have been directly involved with MEC as either as examiners or assessors or panel-makers of the subject syllabus.

 

 

The teachers teaching the subjects for the candidates will be appointed as SBA examiners.

 

 

Teachers who were appointed as i examiners for the government school candidates, and those that are nearest to the in distance to the private candidates and individual private candidates.

 

 

Candidates who wish to postpone the examination should submit their request application by providing reasons and attaching the evidence to MEC before the examination begins. The approval of an application to postpone the examination is MEC's discretion. Candidates who have been approved of their request for postponement of their examination are required to pay the basic fee of RM120.00.

 

 

Applications for the change/transfer from one examination to another examination center must be made online no later than four weeks before the first day of examinations for a semester. Applications that are received after this date will not be entertained.

 

 

If the candidate has registered for a particular subject and wants to change the subject with other subjects after the expiry of the specified period, a charge of RM50.00 will be incurred. Changes in subjects are only permitted in the first term and second term.

If you want to add a subject, a charge of RM50.00 will be charged as well as subjects that added charges, amounting to RM90.00 per subject. The addition of the subject can only be made in his first term and second term only.

For candidates who drop a subject, the payment for the subjects dropped is not refundable.