The Malaysian Higher School Certificate (), commonly abbreviated as STPM, is a pre-university examination in Malaysia. It was formerly known as the Higher School Certificate (HSC). Since 1982, STPM has been administered by the Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC), a statutory council under the Ministry of Education.

STPM is one of the major pre-university systems for admissions to Malaysian public universities, besides the Malaysian Matriculation Programme and the Malaysian Higher Islamic Religious Certificate (STAM). STPM is internationally recognised by many universities, and the results are considered as equivalent to GCE Advanced Level results.

From year 2012 onwards, the modular system has replaced the previous terminal system. The examination series is divided into three semesters and assessed thoroughly, instead of holding one major examination at the end of the examination series in the previous system. Besides that, examination results are monitored by a representative from Cambridge Assessment to maintain standards and quality.

Form Six

As the national education in Malaysia is modelled after the educational system in England, the pre-university programme is the sixth form of secondary education, referred to as "Form Six". The Ministry of Education selects secondary schools it considers capable of providing Form Six classes. STPM examinations are held throughout Form Six.

Students in Form Six are called sixth formers. Sixth formers in national secondary schools are usually distinct from other students in the lower forms, such as wearing different school uniforms, usually given higher positions within societies of the school, often with lax enforcement of certain school rules and regulations, sometimes even holding a separate morning assembly and recess for sixth formers, also separate co-curriculum activities.

Sixth formers in most schools generally form their own association, officially called the Pre-University Student Representatives Council, Form Six Association or the Form Six Society. The main annual activity of these councils is the initiation of new sixth formers during the orientation.

Starting from 2025 onwards, selected public universities which are Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia also offer Form Six under the University Campus Form Six Programme, and plans for expansion are underway.

Examination system

STPM is an open-list examination, that means any combination of subjects may be taken. However, most schools and colleges stream their students into science and humanities streams. To be qualified for Malaysian public university admissions, candidates must take General Studies (Pengajian Am) and at least three other subjects.

Most STPM candidates sit for four or five subjects. Majority candidates sit for four subjects, while some candidates sit for five subjects. It is possible for private candidates to sit for less than four subjects, but the results are only recognised by local private and overseas universities.

All STEM-related subjects (Mathematics (M), Mathematics (T), ICT, Physics, Chemistry and Biology) are offered bilingually in English and Malay. All the other subjects, besides language subjects, are offered only in Malay.

School-based assessments (SBA) are implemented for most subjects (except Chinese Language, Literature in English and Tamil Language), making up the weighting of 20% to 40% of overall marks for each subject.

Candidates are allowed to resit for Semester 1 and Semester 2 examinations for individual subjects if they are unsatisfied with the results. The repeat examinations are usually held around Semester 3 examination.

Subjects

Up to 2014, Further Mathematics was provided as a subject in STPM. However, it was removed since then.

In 2020, Quran Studies (Tahfiz Al-Quran) was introduced as a new subject.

In 2025, subject names were changed such in Social Sciences and Religions and Maths (M) was changed to Management Mathematics and Maths (T) was changed to Mathematics.

A list of subjects available in STPM are:

General Studies CodeSubject (Official title)Subject (English title)Examination language900Pengajian AmGeneral StudiesMalay

Language and Literature CodeSubject (Official title)Subject (English title)Examination language910Bahasa MelayuMalay LanguageMalay911Bahasa Cina (华文)Chinese LanguageChinese (Simplified Chinese)912Bahasa Tamil (தமிழ் மொழி)Tamil LanguageTamil913Bahasa Arab (اللغة العربية)Arabic LanguageArabic920Literature in EnglishLiterature in EnglishEnglish922Kesusasteraan Melayu Komunikatif Communicative Malay LiteratureMalay Formerly known as "Kesusasteraan Melayu (Malay Literature)".

Social Sciences and Religion CodeSubject (Official title)Subject (English title)Examination language930Pengajian Syariah Kontemporari Contemporary Islamic Law StudiesMalay931Pengajian Usuluddin Islamic StudiesMalay932Tahfiz Al-Quran Quran StudiesMalay940SejarahHistoryMalay942GeografiGeographyMalay944EkonomiEconomicsMalay946Pengajian PerniagaanBusiness StudiesMalay948PerakaunanAccountingMalay Introduced in 2020. Formerly known as "Syariah (Islamic Law)". Formerly known as "Usuluddin (Islamic Studies)".

Science and Mathematics CodeSubject (Official title)Examination language950Management Mathematics English or Malay954Mathematics English or Malay958Information And Communications Technology English or Malay960PhysicsEnglish or Malay962ChemistryEnglish or Malay964BiologyEnglish or Malay

Only provide for Arts Stream Student Only provide for Science Stream Student Formerly known as "Computing". Focus on management mathematics Focus on pure mathematics Formerly known as "Mathematics (M)". Formerly known as "Mathematics (T)".

Arts and health CodeSubject (Official title)Subject (English title)Examination language966Sains SukanSports ScienceMalay970Seni VisualVisual ArtsMalay

Grading system STPM grading system uses cumulative grade point average (CGPA) system. There are 11 grades in STPM, which are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D and F, with F as the failing grade. GPA ranging between 4.00 and 0.00 is assigned to the grades, with A being 4.00, B being 3.00, C being 2.00, D being 1.00, and F being 0.00.

Grade C and above is considered principal pass, while grade between C− and D is considered partial pass. Grade F is considered fail. Paper grade Subject grade Subject grade point (SGP) Status A A 4.00 Principal Pass A- A- 3.67Principal Pass B+ B+ 3.33 Principal Pass B B 3.00 Principal Pass B- B- 2.67 Principal Pass C+ C+ 2.33 Principal Pass C C 2.00 Principal Pass C- C- 1.67 Partial Pass D+ D+ 1.33 Partial Pass D D 1.00 Partial Pass F F 0.00 Fail

After the term or repeat exam, the paper grades for the term or repeated term will be released shortly afterwards. The grades for school-based assessments, if available, are released with Semester 3 results.

Overall results are released shortly after the release of Repeat 1, Repeat 2 and Semester 3 results. In the overall results, each subject is graded based on the weighted average marks of all papers in the subject. If a candidate has repeated a paper, then the higher mark between the original and the repeat paper will be taken.

The CGPA for the overall results is calculated by taking the average of GPA of four best performed subjects, including General Studies.

Admissions to Malaysian public universities require CGPA of at least 2.00 and above, with principal passes in three subjects including General Studies. On the other hand, local private universities accept students with only two principal passes without considering the requirement of CGPA.

See also Education in Malaysia Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Malaysian University English Test Advanced Level (UK)

References

External links Malaysian Examinations Council (Malay & English language)