Zimsec O-Level results out

By Abigail Mawonde

November 2017 Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) Ordinary Level results were released yesterday and will be ready for collection on Monday, with the examinations board indicating that English Language Paper 1 had better quality results compared to the November 2016 paper.

Zimsec said the pass rate had gone up by five percent. The increase is despite the nullification of English Language Paper 2 examination results by the High Court after it leaked.

Officially announcing the release of the results yesterday, Zimsec board chairman Professor Eddie Mwenje said: “English Language was graded on one paper as ruled by the High Court. The quality of work on the paper showed that the candidates who wrote the paper were of a better quality than those for 2016.”

Prof Mwenje said there was a slight decrease in the pass rate for last year compared to the year 2016.

“In the analysis, candidates are described in two parts, one being ‘school candidates’, the second being the ‘private candidates’. Private candidates are non-formal students who entered for this examination.

“The total number of candidates who sat for the November 2017 O Level examination was 332 473. This is 14.25 percent higher than the November 2016 entry.

“Total candidates who wrote five or more subjects were 189 684 and 49 982 obtained Grade C or better in five or more subjects, yielding a 26.35 percent pass rate. There is a slight decrease on the performance of year 2016 which was 27.92 percent,” he said.

Of the 187 606 school candidates, 162 920 wrote five subjects or more, with 46 755 passing five or more subjects with a Grade C or better. This translates to a pass rate of 28.69 percent compared to 29.96 percent in 2016.

For private candidates, out of the 144 867 candidates, 3 227 passed with at least five subjects, yielding a pass rate of 12.05 percent at Grade C or better compared to 13.40 percent in 2016. Prof Mwenje said there were four categories of Special Needs Candidates where the highest performance was in the Enlarged print category.

“The highest performance by these candidates was in the Enlarged print category where 36.4 percent of the 68 candidates passed five or more subjects with a Grade C or better.

“In the Hard of Hearing, Braille and Physical Impairment categories candidates achieved 10 percent, 16.67 percent, and 31.25 percent respectively,” he said.

Prof Mwenje said candidates who sat for the examination could collect their results at their respective schools or centres from Monday, 26 February.

He expressed gratitude to all those who were involved in the November 2017 examinations process. Professor Mwenje said the registration deadline for June 2018 examinations was March 23, 2018.

“There will be no late entry facility for this examination session,” he said. The Herald