80% of SEC exam candidates obtained grades of between one and seven, enabling then to progress to post-secondary education, the Education Ministry said this afternoon.

It said that some 7,300 students sat for a total of over 42,000 exams in 33 subjects.

"The results are very encouraging, with 80% of the students who sat for Paper A or B in the basic subjects having obtained grades of between one and seven," the ministry said.

It said that students who sat for the Paper A exams in Maltese, English, Maths, ICT and Physics did well, with grades of between one and five being achieved as follows: 89.7% in Maltese, 89.7% in English, 93% in Maths, 94.4% in ICT and 89.9% in Physics.

94.1% passed in Italian, 93.1% in French and 87.5% in Spanish, all with grades between one and five.

The pass rates in Biology and Chemistry were 80.5% u 82.4% respectively among the students who sat for Paper A. 

Education Minister Dolores Cristina congratulated the students and urged those students facing resits to make a final effort to get the desired results.

Matsec results at intermediate and advanced level are expected to be issued by the end of this week.