The 2013 End of Primary Benchmark was held during the last week of May and the first week of June 2013. The schools participating in this session of the End of Primary Benchmark included 61 State Schools, 19 Church Schools and eight Independent Schools.

The number of children who sat for these assessments was 3595, 1701 males (47%) and 1894 females (53%) which amounted to 92% of the whole cohort of children in Year 6.

Year 6 candidates were assessed in Maltese, English and Mathematics.

In Maltese, candidates were assessed in Speaking (20 marks), Listening Comprehension component (20 marks), Reading Comprehension component (30 marks) and Writing component (30 marks). The national medians were as follows: 17 for the Oral component, 17 for the Listening Comprehension component, 24 for the Reading Comprehension component and 18 for the Writing component. The national median for Maltese was 77.

In English, students were assessed in the same components as in Maltese and the national medians were as follows: 17 for the Oral component, 17 for the Listening Comprehension component, 21 for the Reading Comprehension component and 16 for the Writing component. The national median for English was 70.

Mathematics had two components: the Mental component (20 marks) and the Written component (80 marks). The national median for the Mental component was 18, whilst that for the Written component was 58, with the total national median for Mathematics being 75.

These statistical figures show that 50% of the candidates who sat for the 2013 End of Primary Benchmark scored 77 marks or more in Maltese, 70 marks or more in English and 75 marks or more in Mathematics.

As in previous years, some students were given access arrangements when sitting for the End of Primary Benchmark. This year two additional access arrangements were introduced, Reading with Assistance in the Reading Comprehensions for Maltese and English, and Scribe to write illegible words in the Writing components.

The number of students who benefited from these two additional access arrangements were as follows; 320 had Reading Assistance and 96 had a Scribe.

Each Benchmark script was marked by two independent markers. A total of 124 markers (45 for Maltese, 53 for English and 26 for Mathematics) were involved in this exercise.

The results were sent to schools in the first week of July and they will be sent to all the candidates on the 5th of July 2013. The results included the marks that the candidate scored in the different components of the three subjects in the Benchmark, as well as the national medians for each component and for each subject. This will to enable parents to compare their child’s performance in each subject with the national median.

A number of meetings on the Benchmark were held in Malta and Gozo with parents, teachers and Heads of Schools.

The 2013 End of Primary Benchmark papers will be available to be downloaded from http://www.curriculum.gov.mt under the section Examinations and Benchmark.

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