THE first cohort of Competency-Based Education (CBE) learners in the country performed exceptionally well.
This is the Grade VII group of 2025.
With the change to the CBE syllabus, Grade VII is now known as the Eswatini Primary School Assessment (EPSA) instead of the Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC).
The national pass rate stood at 87.3%, marking an increase of 4.15% compared to last year’s pass rate of 83.15%.
This year, 87.3% of candidates achieved sufficient marks or above, compared to 83.15% in 2024.
The results were announced by Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo yesterday, who reported that 32 300 candidates were assessed this year out of the 32 452 who had registered.
This year, there were 152 absentees, a slight improvement from the 157 absentees recorded in the previous year.
In addition, Nxumalo further announced the change from EPC to EPSA. He explained that this change aligned with the principles of the CBE curriculum, which viewed the Grade VII assessment as a diagnostic tool rather than a simple pass-or-fail examination.
As part of these changes, Nxumalo explained that the Grade VII EPSA results would no longer be presented in the same way as the EPC results.
Instead, each candidate would receive a comprehensive statement of achievement, detailing their individual competencies.
The minister also mentioned that the Examination Council of Eswatini (ECESWA) had prepared comprehensive centre reports for all schools.
This means each school would have data showing how candidates performed in each subject strand. For example, Mathematics is divided into five strands: Number, Measurement, Shape and Space, Data Handling, and Problem Solving.
The new reporting system will also allow schools to compare their performance with the national average.
Nxumalo further stated that the primary purpose of diagnostic assessments in education was to identify students’ strengths, weaknesses, prior knowledge, and misconceptions.
This approach helped create a tailored learning pathway, enabling teachers to plan effective, individualised lessons, provide targeted interventions, and accelerate learning by meeting students where they are.
Nxumalo congratulated the candidates for their hard work in preparing for the assessments.
For those who did not succeed, he encouraged them not to lose hope and to continue striving for improvement.
He also praised the teachers for overcoming numerous challenges to cover the syllabus, particularly since the CBE approach may have required them to go the extra mile to meet assessment requirements, including practical tests.
“CBE also includes three additional subjects: Health and Physical Education (HPE), Expressive Arts, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which were examined for the first time in the 2025 EPSA examination,” Nxumalo said.
He expressed gratitude to teachers, headteachers, and parents for their joint efforts in preparing learners for the 2025 external assessment.
“I would like to commend ECESWA for delivering the EPSA results on time. Although these results were not delivered alongside the Junior Certificate results last week, they have arrived promptly, considering the complexities involved in processing this assessment,” Nxumalo added.
Meanwhile, he urged all headteachers to adhere to the ministry’s policies and procedures by admitting all qualifying learners to Grade VIII, regardless of their progress category.
Girls on top
THIS year’s Eswatini Primary School Assessment (EPSA), formerly known as the Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC), saw girls outperforming boys.
Out of the 4 100 candidates who received insufficient results and will need to repeat the grade, 2 714 were male and 1 386 were female.
Among those who achieved excellent results, 1 181 candidates excelled. Of these, 768 were female and 413 were male.
In the ‘very good’ category, which had 4 522 candidates, 2 662 were female and 1 860 were male.
Of the 16 574 candidates who achieved ‘good’ results, 8 320 were female and 8 254 were male.
