Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia

The SPM is sat for by secondary school students before further studies in foundation, STPM, matriculation or diploma.

For students attending international schools, the equivalent exam they take is the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exam, and the Unified Examinations Certificate is equivalent to Advanced Level.

Originally there were two versions of the SPM, which were introduced in 1964: the Malaysian Certificates of Education taken by students studying in English schools and SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) taken by students studying in national schools.

Due to this transition, students taking science and mathematics subjects can choose to sit for the exams in either English or Malay.

Candidates may request a remarking (regrading) if they suspect errors in the original marking.

[7] Since 2010, the Ministry of Education has imposed a ten-subject limit on every candidate while lowering the minimum number of subjects from eight to six.

Students are allowed to take two additional subjects (from Arabic, Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Kadazandusun languages and Bible Knowledge) but they will not be considered for government scholarships.

Furthermore, a credit in Bahasa Melayu is essential in order to secure a seat in sixth form.

One of the many problems associated with this change is that many "good" students were unable to continue their post-secondary education because of their examination result in Bahasa Melayu.