SERI KEMBANGAN: A whopping 666 Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) candidates achieved a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0 last year.

The result was an improvement compared to 2017, says Malaysian Examination Council chairman Prof Datuk Dr Zul Azhar Zahid Jamal.

A total of 485 candidates achieved a Four Flat in 2017.

The number of candidates with a 3.50 and above CGPA also rose.

“Overall, the 2018 candidates performed better in almost all subjects compared to the year before.

“There were also more As and the performance gap between the rural and urban candidates was narrower,” he told a press conference after announcing the results here Monday (March 11).

All 22 subjects offered, he said, saw 70% of candidates achieving grade C and above.

The number of full passes in Physics, Biology, and Information and Communications Technology, also saw an increase, compared with 2017.

A total of 42,849 candidates sat for the exam. Only 10.7% sat for science stream subjects. The rest were social science candidates.

The General Paper saw the highest number of candidates sitting for a subject.

Prof Dr Zul Azhar said there was a slight decrease in the number of students who sat for the science subjects.

“There are many options for those who have finished their SPM. Some might have gone abroad or to private higher learning institutions instead of taking the STPM,” he said, adding that there were 5,475 science candidates in 2017, compared to 4,566 last year.

He also announced that a new paper - Tahfiz Al-Quran STPM - would be offered in November.

Candidates can collect their results from their schools from noon Monday.

Private candidates will receive their results through the post.

Candidates can also check their results via SMS by typing STPM RESULT and sending it to 15888.

They can also log on to www.mpm.edu.my