Education Ministry: Forecast SPM results never allowed for university entry

PETALING JAYA: The Education Ministry clarified that it had never allowed forecast SPM results to be used as admission qualification and the institutions of higher learning were aware of this.

It said in a statement on Tuesday that according to the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996, only actual SPM results were needed to enrol for matriculation, pre-university and diploma courses approved by the Ministry.

“To say that the forecast results “can no longer be used” is not accurate,” said the Ministry adding that it considered this to be a serious issue.

The Ministry said it was concerned with the quality of services offered by the institutions and that the regulation follows the “best practices” of the Malaysian Qalifications Agency (MQA).

It said it had issued compound fines to several institutions in 2012 and 2013 for going against the law.

In a circular on May 23, 2014, the Ministry reminded the institutions not to allow the use of forecast results for enrolment.

The circular sent shockwaves throughout the industry which had over the past 30 years relied on admissions based on the forecast results.

Students sit for the SPM examinations in November and results are usually released at the end of March the following year.

Each year about 30,000 students register using their school trial exam results for pre-university programmes that start in January.

The Ministry said the use of forecast results was only allowed for visa application by international students wanting to study here.

“The Ministry is aware of the waiting period while waiting for the actual SPM results. We have never stopped those who have completed SPM exam to enrol in short courses offered by the private institutions,” it said.