Students sitting for SEC (O Level) exams as of 2025 get 30 per cent of their overall mark from an assessment of their performance in class. 

While the examination will make up 70 per cent of a student's overall mark, the remaining score will come from an ongoing assessment carried out during the final three years of secondary school. 

The measure was announced by the Education Ministry's Director General Jude Zammit during the TVM show Insights. 

"While assessment through exams is important, formative assessment is also crucial. This is a continuous assessment where the teacher will be giving on-the-spot feedback to the student that will in itself help the student learn more," Zammit said. 

According to Zammit, the change will come into force from the O-level sessions that will be held in May 2025. 

He did not explain how the ongoing assessment component of students' marks would be calculated for this coming two years. 

Zammit said the education sector, as well as the employment sector, are both changing at a rapid pace and it is crucial that the authorities carry out updates that reflect this. 

University of Malta Faculty of Education Vice Dean Michelle Attard Tonna welcomed the change, saying this would help provide students with more opportunities. 

This will be the first major change to the SEC system in recent years. The change in assessment is, however, similar to that for hands-on subjects, formally known as applied subjects. 

Applied subjects are taught hands-on in workshops rather than through traditional theory-based techniques.

Launched in 2019, the subjects were aimed at improving the standard of the country’s education system in an attempt to place it alongside the best in the world.