HomeNewsResults Analysis ReportNOVEMBER 2015 EXAMINATIONS: ADVANCED LEVEL RESULTS ANALYSIS

NOVEMBER 2015 EXAMINATIONS: ADVANCED LEVEL RESULTS ANALYSIS

  • January 20, 2016
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1.0 Introduction

The number of school candidates was 32 764 and for private candidates it was 8 889. The number of candidates who sat for two or more subjects was 33 579, which is 80, 6% of the total candidature of 41 653.
The total number of candidates who sat for the November ‘A’ level 2015 examination was 41 653 as compared 39 133 in November 2014        . The candidature increased by 2 520, an increase of 6, 4 %. The number of candidates who obtained Grade E or better in one or more subjects was 38 873. This gives a percentage of 93, 3%.

The analysis has been grouped into two distinct categories, namely; School and Private candidates.

Table 1: Number of Subjects written and their entries

Number of subjects Candidates who wrote 1 subject Candidates who wrote 2 subjects Candidates who wrote 3 subjects Candidates who wrote 4 subjects Candidates who wrote 5 subjects Candidates who wrote 6 subjects Total
Number of candidates 1141 2596 36981 887 46 2 41 653

 

The table above includes entries for both school and private candidates.

 

Table 2: Number of Subject/s Pass Rate Analysis

 

  Candidates who sat 1 subject Candidates who sat for 2   subjects Candidates who sat for 3 subjects Candidates who sat for 4 subjects Candidates who sat for 5 subjects Candidates who sat for 6 subjects
Entry Grade E or better % pass rate Entry Grade E or better % pass rate Entry Grade E or better % pass rate Entry Grade E or better % pass rate Entry Grade E or better % pass rate Entry Grade E or better % pass rate
School candidates 214 156 72, 9 1 404 1 259 89, 7 30 310 29 372 96, 9 797 790 99, 1 38 38 100 1 1 100
Private candidates 927 481 51, 98 1 192 806 67,6 6 671 5 876 88, 1 90 85 99, 4 8 8 100 1 1 100

 

From the table above the majority of both school and private candidates sat for three subjects, followed by candidates who wrote two subjects. The pass rate is very high for candidates who sat for 3 or more subjects.

 

Table 3: 2015 November “A” Level National Pass Rate

  Number of Candidates who wrote 2 or more subject Number of Candidates who passed 2 or more subjects Percentage Pass Rates
School Candidates 2015 32 550 28 510 87, 6
2014 30 623 25 291 82,61
Private Candidates 2015 7 962              5 069 63, 7
2014 7 324 4 217 57,58

 

The table above compares the performance of candidates who wrote two or more subjects in 2014 and 2015. School candidates who sat for two or more subjects were 32 550 and 28 510 obtained Grade E or better in two subjects, which translates to a percentage pass rate of 87, 6%. Private candidates who wrote two or more subjects were 7 962, and 5 069 obtained Grade E or better in two or more subjects, which also translates into a percentage pass rate of 63, 7%. School candidates performed better than private candidates as indicated in the statistics.

A total of 32 550 school candidates wrote two or more subjects in 2015, which is an increase of 6, 3% from 2014. Also, 2015 candidates registered an 87, 6% pass rate which is 4, 99% higher than that of 2014. Private candidates in 2015 performed better than in 2014.

 

Table 4: Percentage pass rate by gender and number of subjects

 

  Candidates who passed 1 subject Candidates who passed 2 subjects Candidates who passed 3 subjects Candidates who passed 4 subjects Candidates who passed 5 subjects Candidates who passed 6 subjects
No. %pass rate No. % pass rate No. % pass rate No. %pass rate No. % pass rate No. % pass rate
School Female 50 75, 76 524 94, 1 13 067 98, 2 200 99, 5 2 100 – –
Male 425 57, 59 1 260 77, 5 19 466 94, 1 648 98, 8 43 100 1 100
Private Female 162 48, 21 281 68 2 715 90, 7 27 96, 4 1 100 – –
Male 319 53, 98 525 67, 4 3 161 85, 9 58 93, 5 7 100 1 100

 

From the table above, female school candidates performed notably well in the number of subjects taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


5.0     Year on Year Comparison of School Candidates by Gender 2014 – 2015

 

Table 5: Year on Year Comparison of School Candidates by Gender 2015-2014

  Number of Candidates who wrote 2 or more subjects Number of Candidates who passed 2 or more subjects National Pass Rates
YEAR 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015
FEMALES 13 141 14 071 11 366 12 738 86, 5% 90, 5%
MALES 17 482 18 479 13 977 15 772 80% 85, 4%

 

The table compares the performance by gender of candidates who wrote two or more subjects over a period of two years. There was a notable increase in entries and pass rates for both female and male candidates. The same comparisons in the table above are also presented in Fig 1 and Fig 2 below.

 

Fig 1: Comparison of candidates who wrote two or more subjects by gender

 

Fig 2: Comparison of candidates’ pass rate by gender

 

 

6.0     November 2015 Subject Pass Rates

Table 6: School and Private Candidates Subject Performance in the November 2015.

Subject Code Subject Name Candidate Status Candidates who took the subject Candidates with grade E or better in the subject % pass rate of candidates with Grade E or better in the subject
  2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015
8007 ENGLISH & COMMUNICATION School candidates 15669 16 617 15275 16 600 97,49 99.99
Private candidates 925 943 897 939 96,97 99.58
9145 SHONA School Candidates 3756 6 058 3425 5 470 91,19 90,29
Private Candidates 450 624 306 427 68,00 68,43
9147 NDEBELE School Candidates 2477 2 527 2356 2 180 95,12 86,27
Private Candidates 402 421 330 291 82,09 69,12
9153 LIT IN ENGLISH School Candidates 4838 4 763 4798 4 696 99,17 98, 59
Private Candidates 977 1 087 958 1 028 98,06 94,57
9154 DIVINITY School Candidates 11190 12 614 9748 11 433 87,19 88, 6
Private Candidates 2184 2 687 1527 2 055 69,92 76, 52
9155 HISTORY School Candidates 13387 14 498 13198 14 276 98,59 98, 47
Private Candidates 2457 2 950 2331 2 723 94,87 92, 31
9156 GEOGRAPHY School Candidates 15061 10 464 5423 7 633 36,01 72, 95
Private Candidates 3484 2 546 601 1 148 17,25 45, 09
9157 SOCIOLOGY School Candidates 755 940 519 798 68,74 84, 89
Private Candidates 821 840 254 483 40,90 57, 5
9158 ECONOMICS School Candidates 5988 7 498 4607 5 755      76,92 76, 75
Private Candidates 2805 3333 1587 1 848 56,58 55, 45
9159 AGRICULTURE School Candidates 730 1004 641 876 87,53 87, 25
Private Candidates 3 1 2 1 66,67 100
9163 FRENCH School Candidates 5 5 4 5 80,00 100
Private Candidates —–   —-   ——  
9164 MATHEMATICS School Candidates 8 202 9 681 5581 6 988 68.04 72, 18
Private Candidates 1425 1 797 494 783 34.67 43, 57
9187 FURTHER MATHEMATICS School Candidates 197 232 184 223 93,40 96, 12
Private Candidates 26 28 21 20 80,77 71, 43
9188 PHYSICS School Candidates 2 013 2 407 1727 2 017 85,79 83, 80
Private Candidates 163 232 68 123 41,72 53, 02
9189 CHEMISTRY School Candidates 3 333 3 564 2478 2 859 74,35 80, 22
Private Candidates 282 337 110 186 39,01 55, 19
9190 BIOLOGY School Candidates 2 390 2 676 1775 2 150 74,27 80, 34
Private Candidates 215 223 110 134 51,56 60, 09
9191 ART School Candidates 27 56 18 45 66,67 80, 36
Private Candidates —   —       —- ——
9193 TEXTILES & DESIGN School Candidates 88 83 88 77 100,00 92, 77
Private Candidates —–   —-   —— ——
9194 FOOD SCIENCE School Candidates 191 218 185 204 96,86 93, 58
Private Candidates 1 1 —— 100
9195 COMPUTING School Candidates 277 500 257 490 92,78 98
Private Candidates —-   —-   —–  
9196 GEO&MECH/BUILD DRAW School Candidates 155 243 152 228 98,06 93, 83
Private Candidates 3 3 3 1 100,00 33, 33
9197 ACCOUNTING School Candidates 5754 6 470 3335 3 563 57,96 55, 07
  Private Candidates 2 353 2 530 737 687 31,32 27, 15
9198 BUSINESS STUDIES School Candidates 10 688 11 056 9642 9 828 90,21 88, 89
Private Candidates 4 002 4 109 3012 3 077 75,26 74, 88

 

In the table that shows November 2015 Subject pass rates, it can be observed that, there was excellent performance by school candidates in most subjects. Geography, being one of the subjects that has a significant increase in pass rate, experienced a steep decline in candidature with only 10 464 candidates registering in 2015 versus 15 061 in 2014, a percentage decrease of 30, 5%. It could therefore be presumed that the decrease in candidature coupled with a better crop of candidates has resulted in better performance in the subject. Other subjects with notable increase in pass rates are; Sociology, French, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Art and Computing. However, there is a slight decrease in performance in Ndebele, Physics, Textile and Design and Business Studies.

 

 

7.0       Table 7: School Candidates Provincial Pass Rates

Region Year Number of candidates who wrote 2 or more subjects Number of candidates who passed 2 or more subjects % Provincial pass rates
Harare Female 1 998 1 935 96, 8
Male 2 337 1 862 79, 7
Manicaland Females 2 446 2 226 91
Male 3 348 2 934 87, 6
Mashonaland East Females 1 544 1 455 94, 2
Male 1 932 1 747 90, 4

Matebeleland North		 Females 538 450 83, 6
Male 582 445 76, 5
Midlands Female 1 686 1 495 88, 7
Male 2 361 1 962 83,1
Masvingo Female 1 823 1 697 93, 1
Male 2 972 2 686 90, 4
Mashonaland Central Female 783 726 92, 7
  Male 1 178 1 026 87, 1
Mashonaland West Female 1 156 1 033 89, 4
  Male 1 833 1 528 83, 4
Matebeleland South Female 860 760 88, 4
  Male 733 609 83, 1
Bulawayo Female 1 212 1 048 86, 5
  Male 1 192 962 80, 7

 

The table above shows November 2015 pass rate by province and by gender. In all the provinces, female candidates outperformed male candidates. However, there were more male candidates than female candidates which may have an effect on their pass rate. It can also be observed that, Harare province female candidates have the highest pass rate of 96, 8 %.

8.0     Conclusion

Generally, the performance of the November 2015 candidates was commendable in most subjects. Reasons for this performance may vary from subject to subject and may only be substantiated by empirical research to confirm the trend in the pass rates. An important point to take note of is that, grading standards have been maintained throughout. The standards have been benchmarked to previous ones and maintained in all subjects.

 

 

 

E.S. Nhandara

Director

ZIMBABWE SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

 



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