Auditing a national system of examinations: issues of selectivity in the Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examination in Malta

Abstract

For several decades, the Maltese educational system was almost entirely reliant on English examination boards for certification in secondary and post‐secondary education. In the 1990s, Maltese policy‐makers decided to establish an affordable local examination system aimed at a wide range of students. This paper focuses on the review of the Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examination introduced in 1994 and intended to attract 80% of the 16‐year‐old cohort. Although its main aim was certification of individual competence, and its underlying philosophy and approach were non‐selective in nature, the SEC examination introduced a number of features that unintentionally led to selectivity. These include the system of differentiated papers, the language policy of the examination papers, the perceived need of private tuition to reach the required standard and the introduction of a September re‐sit session. These issues are discussed with a view to explore how selectivity is involved in all of them and whether it can be avoided. The relevant recommendations of the review are later discussed in order to evaluate how these issues of selectivity have been addressed.