Half the candidates who sat for the 2015 end of primary benchmark scored 74 marks or more in Maltese, 71 marks or more in English and 72 marks or more in mathematics, the government said.

It said that each benchmark script was blind marked by two markers. A total of 126 markers were involved in this exercise: 48 for Maltese, 48 for English and 30 for Mathematics.

The benchmark was held in the last week of May and the first week of June. 62 state, 22 church and seven independent schools participated.

A total 3,625 children sat for these assessments, 1,733 boys (48 per cent) and 1,892 girls (52 per cent) - 93 per cent of the whole cohort of children in Year 6.

In Maltese, candidates were assessed in speaking (20 marks), listening comprehension (20 marks), reading comprehension component (30 marks) and writing (30 marks). The national medians were: 17 for the oral component,16 for the listening comprehension component, 21 for the reading comprehension component and 19 for the writing component. The national median for Maltese was 74.

In English, students were assessed in the same components as in Maltese and the national medians were: 17 for the oral component, 15 for the listening comprehension component, 23 for the reading comprehension component and 16 for the writing component. The national median for English was 71.

In mathematics had two components: the mental component (20 marks) and the written component (80 marks). The national median for the mental component was 16, whilst that for the written component was 56, with the total national median for mathematics being 72.

The 2015 End of Primary Benchmark papers will be available to download from http://www.curriculum.gov.mt under the section Examinations and Benchmark.