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It is NOT necessary if a candidate obtains 8As and above in SPM promising that he or she is eligible to continue his studies at a public university (UA). The process of determining the chances of admission to UA, on the other hand, is heavily influenced by the merits obtained. This has become a hot topic among students and parents on social media, when some get 7As but the merit is lower than students with 4A. Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Human Development, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Dr Mohd Syaubari Othman, said in the context of admission to UA, the merit system is used as a measure of competition which combines 90 per cent academic achievement and 10 per cent co-curricular marks, thus becoming the basis for the evaluation of the selection of candidates to the higher education level. He said many people thought that the merit system only relied on A's, but in fact it was more comprehensive because it took into account academic performance and extracurricular involvement. "After that, co-curricular scores will be increased. This score is obtained from the involvement of students in activities such as associations, sports, uniformed bodies as well as leadership positions in schools," he said. |
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Active co-curricular Mohd Syaubari said that usually co-curricular scores are in the range of seven to 10 per cent. However, the most important thing to understand is that not all subjects have the same importance in merit calculation. For admission to certain courses, especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, subjects such as Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology play a greater role. This means students who earn high grades in these subjects will have an advantage, even if their A's are less. "This is the reason why there is a situation where students who get 4A 4B can have higher merit than students who get 8A. "If 4A 4B students get A+ in critical subjects such as Supplementary Mathematics and Science, while 8A students only get A- or A- in those subjects, the merit system will consider the first student more suitable for the field," he said. In addition, Mohd Syubari said, the selection of subject packages also greatly affects merit. Students who choose a combination of subjects that are in line with the course they want to apply for will have a higher chance. On the other hand, students who take less relevant subjects may earn lower merit even if the overall results are good. "So, what needs to be understood is that the merit of SPM is not just to measure general excellence, but to assess the suitability of students for the chosen field. "Therefore, students need to plan their subject selection carefully, focus on important subjects, and be active in co-curricular activities to increase their chances of pursuing their studies at public universities," he said. One system Commenting on the same, Head of Admissions Division Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Mohd Firdaus Zakaria, there is a possibility that the community, especially parents, candidates and schools are not sufficiently exposed to the latest information regarding the methods and systems used for the selection of students, especially to UA. |
He said many still think that the number of A's obtained is the final benchmark for the student selection process. "This merit term, if it can be easily interpreted, is a scoring system for the purpose of selecting students based on a combination of two aspects, namely the academic achievement of the student and the co-curricular achievement of the student. "The calculation of 90 per cent of merit for academic achievement for SPM graduates varies according to the entry channel and institution," he said. Mohd Firdaus said the merit calculation system of the UPU Online System is based on the flow package of students during their studies at the SPM level, in contrast to the merit calculation system for the Ministry of Education (MOE) Matriculation programme which refers to the majors applied for by the candidate. This means that each major has a different merit calculation system, hence it is very important for students to be exposed to this merit calculation system as early as they enter secondary school. "We no longer want to hear tragic stories such as candidates graduating from STEM A stream not taking Supplementary Mathematics subjects or candidates not taking subjects according to their stream package which results in their merit calculation being too low. "So parents, teachers and relevant government agencies must always disseminate the latest information on the calculation of merit to children and students," he said. This is to avoid the situation where students only realize their low merit scores when applying for further studies, whereas the situation can be avoided in the early stages. Mohd Firdaus said it was hoped that the initiative to merge all pre-university programmes under the Ministry of Higher Education in the near future would be a paradigm shift in the selection process for students to UA. He said the intention to consolidate all the application systems that are currently separate into only one system in the form of "single window and single offer" is very progressive in optimising offers and places to candidates based on merit performance and programmes that are suitable for them. |
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Article shared by: Kasmaria Zawawi | Section of Documentation Source from:
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Date of Input: 07/06/2026 | Updated: 20/07/2026 | aidawati
(Office of Vice Chancellor)
Level 4 The Office of The Deputy Vice Chancellor
(Research & Innovation) Building
Off Highway Sillicon
43400 UPM Serdang
Selangor
