Responding to an FMT report on the issue, Azman said students’ UASA results are meant as feedback to gauge their mastery of a subject.

“UASA is not intended to determine whether a student passes or fails, nor is it used to compare the performance between students, schools, districts, or states,” Azman said in a statement to FMT.

“The marks are used to determine whether a student has mastered the material or requires further guidance before advancing to the next level.

“Teachers can inform parents about their children’s performance in terms of percentages and grades achieved, rather than labelling it as ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.”

He added that while UASA’s questions are not standardised, they maintain the same standards as the questions are based on the same curriculum.

UASA was introduced during the 2022/2023 academic session. The exams are held at the end of the school year for students in Years 4 to 6 and Forms 1 to 3.

The final school-based examinations replaced national centralised exams such as the UPSR for Year 6 and PT3 for Form 3 students, which were abolished in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

In the earlier FMT report, former teacher Fadli Salleh pointed out on Facebook that the UASA passing grade had recently been reduced from 40% to 20%.

A poster Fadli shared outlined the examinations’ grading scale:

Excellent (A) – 82% to 100%;
Credit (B) – 66% to 81%;
Good (C) – 50% to 65%;
Satisfactory (D) – 35% to 49%;
Meets minimum standard (E) – 20% to 34%;
Does not meet minimum standard (F) – 0% to 19%.

Fadli’s post received mixed reactions from parents, some of whom asked why the passing grade had been lowered.