Academic Qualifications and Public Common Examinations at Pre-Tertiary Level

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At the end of the six years of primary schooling, pupils are required to sit for a common public examination called the Primary School Achievement Test / Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (PSAT / UPSR).
At the end of the third year at the lower secondary level, students will be required to sit for a public examination called the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) or the Lower Secondary Assessment (LSA). However, PMR is not a terminal examination but a diagnostic evaluation. All students are automatically promoted to the upper secondary level for another two years to complete 11 years of free education. However, the government has decided to do away with the PMR as a public examination beginning 2016. Instead, this examination for Form Three students will be changed to a school-based assessment.

After two years of upper secondary education, students sit for the public common examination Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, SPM (also known as the Malaysian Certificate of Education which is equivalent to the GSCE 'O' level).
The Ministry of Education offers two types of free post-secondary programmes or pre-university courses for students with SPM qualifications :

The Sixth Form (Lower and Upper Form for one and a half years) preparing students for the common public examination, namely, Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) which is equivalent to GCE 'A' levels, or
• Matriculation class (for one year) conducted by matriculation colleges under the Ministry of Education which award successful candidates with the matriculation certificate.