The results for the 2023/24 senior six national exams (A-Level) released on Friday, November 15, at Rwanda Education Board (REB) headquarters, show an overall pass rate of 78.6 percent.
The Minister of Education, Joseph Nsengiyumva, announced results which reflect performance across all categories: General Education, Teacher Training Colleges (TTC), and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). While the performance exceeded 78% across the board, it represents a decline compared to the previous year.
The minister said that out of the 91,713 candidates registered for the national exams, 91,298 sat for the exams, and 71,746 passed, resulting in an overall pass rate of 78.6 percent.
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In General Education, 38,016 of the 56,300 candidates who sat for the exams passed, representing a pass rate of 67.5 percent. Technical Secondary Schools (TSS) saw 29,542 candidates pass, out of the 30,730 who sat for exams, reflecting a strong pass rate of 96.1 percent. In Professional Education (PE), 4,268 candidates sat for the exams and 98.1 percent passed.
According to the Ministry of Education, the grading system is based on prescribed grade ranges and subject-specific weightings. Core subjects are graded on raw marks and represented by letter grades ranging from ‘A’ (Excellent) to ‘F’ (Fail).
Grading boundaries for core subjects: A: 80–100 (Excellent), B: 75–79 (Very Good), C: 70–74 (Good), D: 65–69 (Satisfactory), E: 60–64 (Adequate), S: 50–59 (Minimum Pass) and F: 0–49 (Fail).
Subsidiary subjects are also graded based on raw marks, using ‘S’ and ‘F’ to indicate performance levels.
Two principal passes requirement for university admission removed
One significant change this year is the removal of the "two principal passes” requirement for university admission.
Nsengiyumva explained that the previous system was overly complex, and now all students who meet the minimum pass grade will qualify for university admission without needing two principal passes.
Additionally, State Minister Claudette Irere announced that candidates will now have access to their raw marks, a transparency measure not previously available. While the grading system remains intact, candidates can now view their scores in detail.
The published national exam results can be viewed online or by means of short message service (SMS).
To access results online, log on to: https://sdms.gov.rw/sasui/public/nationalExaminationResult.zul and follow the instructions.
To get results by SMS: write the full candidate’s index number and send it to 8888. Example: A-Level: [110803MPC0012023] and send to 8888