Country or Region | Sri Lanka |
Year | 2014 |
Producer(s) | Department of Examinations - Government |
Metadata | Download the documentation |
Created on
Apr 02, 2015
Last modified
Apr 02, 2015
Overview
Identification
Version
2014
Summary
The Grade 5 Scholarship Examination has been administered annually since 1944 by the Department of Examinations to grade 5 (ISCED 1) students in public and private schools. The Grade 5 Scholarship Examination is a low stake assessment. It is a written assessment, administered face-to-face and delivered through paper-pencil tests. All test-takers are presented with the same cognitive booklets or tests.
The main purpose of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination is to select highly achieving but disadvantaged students for scholarships and to select the best students for highly ranked schools. It also serves the following purposes:
- student certification for completion of primary education
- supporting teachers (training, relevant materials, etc.)
- school or educator accountability
- sub-national level monitoring of learning outcomes
- monitoring education quality levels
- planning education policy reforms
The examination accommodates students with special needs, by providing the following arrangements:
- Autism: additional time
- Hearing impairment: additional time
- Visual impairment: test materials in braille
- Emotional disturbance: additional time
- Speech or language impairment: additional time
Census (all students at the given grades or ages)
Results are available at the student, school, sub-national and national level. Data are disagregated by sex, geographic location (urban and rural), and family income levels.
Results are published in reports, which are available in print and online. Results are published in the media.
Scope
The Grade 5 Scholarship Examination comprises two papers: the first paper assesses generic skills and the second paper assesses contents aligned with the national curriculum. The test duration is 45 minutes for paper 1, and 75 minutes for paper 2.
The main language of instruction is either Sinhala or Tamil. Students take the examination papers in their main language of instruction.
Description of test items: Test items consist of multiple choice questions with three or more response options, open-ended questions requiring short constructed responses and essay writing.
Description of stimuli: Test stimuli consist of continuous and non-continuous texts.
Coverage
NationalStudents enrolled in grade 5 (ISCED 1) in public and private schools.
Producers and Sponsors
Name | Affiliation |
---|---|
Department of Examinations | Government |
Name | Affiliation | Role |
---|---|---|
Department of Examinations | Government | Test development and administration; data processing and dissemination; programme development |
Ministry of Education | Government | Financial support through ministerial budget |
Households | N/A | Financial contribution through examination fees paid by candidates |
Metadata Production
Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
---|---|---|---|
Department of Examinations | Government | Data collection | |
UNESCO Institute for Statistics | UIS | United Nations | Questionnaire design, metadata collection, review and publication |