Primary school benchmark registers 74 percentile median for Maltese
English language national median at 66, ministry says education benchmarks registered ‘are good’
The 2012 End of Primary Benchmark comprisied 91.9% of the whole cohort of 3,949 children.
A benchmark exercise for end-year primary school pupils has registered a high national median in the Maltese language, but a lower score for the English language.
The 2012 End of Primary Benchmark was held on 4-6 June, which included the 62 state primaries, 19 church schools and eight private independent schools, comprising 1,677 boys and 1,951 girls, or 91.9% of the whole cohort of 3,949 children.
Year 6 candidates were assessed in Maltese, English and Mathematics.
In Maltese, candidates were assessed in the speaking, listening comprehension and reading comprehension writing components. The national medians were as follows: 17 for the oral component, 19 for the listening comprehension component, 22 for the reading comprehension component and 18 for the writing component. The national median for Maltese was 74.
In English, the national medians were as follows: 16 for the oral component, 16 for the listening comprehension component, 19 for the reading comprehension component and 16 for the writing component. The national median for English was 66.
Mathematics had two components: the mental component (20 marks) and the written component (80 marks). The national median for the mental component was 17, whilst for the Written component it was 48, with the total national median for mathematics being 63.
The education ministry said that the figures show that 50% of the candidates who sat for the 2012 benchmark scored 74 marks or more in Maltese, 66 marks or more in English and 63 marks or more in Mathematics.
"The 2012 End of Primary Benchmark results are very encouraging and should lead to a smooth transition from Primary to Secondary schooling.
"The results were sent to schools and all the candidates and included the marks that each candidate scored in the different components of the three subjects in the benchmark, as well as the total national median. This will enable parents to compare their child's performance in each subject with the national median."
