The benchmark exams that every student has to sit for at the end of primary school are being phased out, the government announced on Thursday afternoon. 

Instead, by 2021, the education system will shift towards what will be called 'informal college exams' or 'informal national exams'. 

The announcement was made by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo after he was handed a report with 25 recommendations following the review of the benchmark examinations process, first introduced in 2011. 

The 25 recommendations were drawn up by the Benchmark Review Board, set up in 2017 to review the national end-of-primary assessment, more commonly referred to as the benchmark exam. 

Outlining a series of measures that need to be taken in order to bring about the change, the recommendations include calls for the "phasing out" of the benchmark "in its present format", the introduction of more informal assessment, the shift of weighting of assessment, increased use of digital technology and the introduction of different levels of assessment for students with different abilities. 

Asked by Times of Malta, to explain what this would mean for students, Mr Bartolo said that essentially, not much would change because students were already being subject to different ways of assessment and there were various ways to carry out such assessment. He did not give any examples on what this would entail. 

On whether teachers had been consulted on the changes that were being proposed, board chairperson Mark Borg said the recommendations stemmed from feedback from all stakeholders and while, as expected, feedback varied, most were in agreement with what was being proposed.