KUALA LUMPUR: There was an increase in the number of Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) candidates who scored a perfect cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0 last year compared with the previous year.

Malaysian Examinations Council chairman Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Ekhwan Toriman said 874 STPM candidates scored a perfect CGPA of 4.0 in 2021, an increase of 133 candidates from 741 candidates in 2020.

"Of the total candidates who scored a CGPA of 4.0 in STPM 2021, 66.82 per cent, or 584 of them, are from the B40 category," said Ekhwan, who is also Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia vice-chancellor.

The STPM 2021 results were announced at the Malaysian Examinations Council headquarters in Batu Caves, near here.  

Present was the council's chief executive, Adnan Husin.

Ekhwan said candidates who scored a CGPA of 4.0 accounted for 2.14 per cent of the total 40,926 STPM candidates last year.

Of the total candidates, 88.24 per cent scored a CGPA of 2.00 and above.

Ekhwan said the number of candidates who scored a CGPA of 2.00 and above last year was higher than in 2020.

"We foresee no obstacles for STPM 2021 leavers to enrol in public universities this year."

He said the overall national CGPA for STPM 2021 rose by 0.01 to 2.79 from 2.78 in 2020.

"The achievement by STPM 2021 candidates is similar to what the 2020 cohort achieved, as the difference (in the national CGPA) is only 0.01, which is not significant."

Ekhwan said more than 70 per cent of STPM 2021 candidates obtained a passing grade of C or above for the 23 subjects offered.

He said there was a more than three per cent drop in performance for Mathematics in STPM 2021 compared with the previous year.

He said the performance for the Chinese language subject saw an increase of more than three per cent in STPM 2021 compared with the year prior.

Ekhwan said 42,369 people registered for STPM in 2021, which was lower than the 44,704 people who registered in 2020.

Of the people who registered for STPM 2021, 96.59 per cent sat for the examination.