A total of 559 candidates obtained the A+ highest grade in all the subjects they sat for in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination last year, up from the 403 for the year 2010, it was announced today.
Director-General of Education Datuk Seri Abd Ghafar Mahmud said 506 of the candidates were from national secondary schools and 53 from other schools compared to 363 and 40, respectively, for 2010.
"The overall SPM achievement for 2011 improved from the year before, with the National Average Grade at 5.04 compared to 5.19 in 2010," he told a news conference when announcing the analysis of the results here. A total of 468,808 candidates sat for the examination last year. Abd Ghafar said seven candidates obtained A+ in 12 subjects, 72 candidates in 11 subjects, 284 candidates in 10 subjects and 143 candidates in nine subjects. He said that based on the National Average Grade (GPN), the 2011 SPM results are the best in five years. The GPN for both urban and rural candidates improved, with urban candidates registering an improvement of 0.22, from 4.89 in 2010 to 4.67 in 2011. Rural candidates registered an improvement of 0.13, from 5.52 in 2010 to 5.39 in 2011. "Nevertheless, the gap between the achievements of urban and rural candidates widened by 0.09," he said. Abd Ghafar also said that achievement by school showed an improvement, with schools in the excellent and good categories better by 13 and 60 in numbers while those in the satisfactory and potential categories dropped by four and 17, respectively. He said the achievement of schools in the excellent, good, satisfactory and potential categories is based on the School Average Grade (GPS) index. Abd Ghafar said 662 candidates with special needs sat for the examination last year and 343 of them obtained the SPM certificate compared to 319 in 2010. "Three visually impaired candidates, one hearing impaired candidate and three candidates with other