Education director-general Datuk Abdul Ghafar Mahmud attributed it to the move to cap the number of subjects that a student is allowed to take in the SPM from last year.
“This can be clearly seen from their encouraging results based on the grading system where 363 candidates from government schools and another 40 students from private schools or private candidates obtained A+ in all subjects compared to 214 in 2009,” he told a press conference when announcing the analysis of the 2010 SPM results at the ministry yesterday.
He said 9,239 candidates obtained distinctions, which was a combination of A+, A and A- last year compared to 7,987 candidates in 2009.
Abdul Ghafar said this was the second year the ministry had used the new grading system with students graded according to A+, A, A-, B+, B, C+, C, D, E and G as compared to previously where the grades were from 1A to 9G.
This, he said would provide a detailed breakdown of excellent candidates who obtained grade A's in the examination.
The National Average Grade had also improved from 5.34 in 2009 to 5.19 last year, he added.
