What are the National Examinations?

National examinations aim to provide a clear and comprehensive measurement of the development of the students’ cognitive, linguistic and numeracy skills at the end of each educational cycle in the basic subjects:

• Grade 3 (Arabic, mathematics).

• Grade 6 (Arabic, English, Mathematics, Science).

• Grade 9 (Arabic, English, Mathematics, Science).

• Grade 12 (Arabic, English, Problem Solving).

These exams have been produced by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), in close collaboration with Subject Specialists from the Bahrain National Examinations Unit (NEU).

The exams were developed especially for students in Bahrain, and will test the performance of students on the Bahrain curriculum for each stated subject and grade. Each exam has a range of questions, some which everyone can do and some more challenging to stretch the best and brightest. We do not intend or expect anyone to get either no marks or full marks.

CIE is part of Cambridge Assessment http://www.cie.org.uk/ , Europe’s largest assessment agency and a department of the University of Cambridge. CIE will be working with the QAAET over the next 3 years to complete development of the National Examinations and to ensure that the NEU has all the knowledge and skills to carry the work forward.

Why have National Examinations?

The QAAET National Examinations have been introduced as part of the Bahrain Education Reform Project. The aim of the project is to help the Ministry of Education, teachers, teacher trainers, and everyone else engaged with learning in schools to raise standards of education in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Because they are taken every year, the National Examinations will also provide a way of checking improvements in schools and in the education system as a whole over a period of time. From the very first set of results, students and teachers will have reliable information about the strength of their performance in different subjects, and this will help them to see where their strengths are – as well as where there is most room for improvement.

National Examinations play an essential role in many countries around the world in ensuring educational excellence, so the Kingdom should feel proud for leading the way in the Gulf with this innovation. Students in Bahrain who take part in the first round of examinations this May can feel especially proud that they are leading the way and setting the standard for the future.

What about the results?

When students and their parents see the results, they will see there are two scores for each subject. The Examination results are given in two ways: a normalized percentage score and a performance score. Both scores show how well a student has done in a subject, but they report the results in different ways. Students will benefit from the range of different information the scores offer about their achievement, and this breadth of information will also be of value to both parents and teachers.  

TIMETABLE FOR MARCH/MAY 2013 GRADE 3, GRADE 6, GRADE 9 & GRADE 12 EXAMS