Students who completed primary school fared much better in their English examinations than in Maltese and maths, official figures issued yesterday show.

A total of 3,571 students from 62 State schools, 21 Church schools and six independent schools sat for the annual benchmarking exams with the candidates being assessed in Maltese, English and mathematics.

The national average mark for English stood at 76, while that for Maltese was 67, the figures show. In the case of Maltese, the average mark was 69.

In Maltese, pupils were assessed in speaking (20 marks), listening comprehension (20 marks), reading comprehension (30 marks) and writing (30 marks).

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Students obtained an average of 17 marks for the speaking component, 15 for the listening comprehension, 17 for the reading comprehension and 18 for the writing.

The marks were significantly higher in all components in English, with students scoring an average of 17 points for the speaking component, 18 for listening comprehension, 23 for reading comprehension and 18 for writing.

Mathematics had two components – a mental exam (20 marks) and a written component (80 marks).

The national median for the mental component was 15, while for the written it was 54. Each benchmark script was blind marked by two markers, with a total of 118 markers involved in the exercise: 46 for Maltese, 40 for English and 32 for mathematics.

The benchmarking exams were introduced in 2011 as part of a reform that sought to end the one-size-fits-all approach.