Form Six results improve, 71 disqualified for cheating

ZANZIBAR: THE National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) has announced improved performance in the 2025 Form Six (ACSEE) and Teacher Education examinations.

NACTE also announced disqualification of 71 candidates for cheating and withholding results for 244 candidates, who were unable to complete their exams due to illness.

Speaking in Zanzibar during the release of the results on Monday, NECTA Executive Secretary, Professor Said Ali Mohamed said there was a total of 134,377 candidates — both school and private registered for the May 2025 examinations, with 48.39 per cent being female.

Out of the registered candidates, 125,779 school candidates passed the exams, representing a pass rate of 99.95 per cent of those who received results. This is a slight increase compared to last year’s pass rate of 99.92 per cent, with only 68 candidates (0.05 per cent) failing this year.

Prof Mohamed noted that 7,452 candidates were private candidates. The pass rate for private candidates stood at 90.70 per cent, with 6,127 passing.

Of the 126,925 registered school candidates, 126,135 sat for the exams, which is an increase from 103,812 who sat in 2024.

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The overall improvement in performance is attributed to enhanced teaching methods and continued investment in education aimed at strengthening learning quality nationwide.

“Statistics show that a total of 125,375 candidates (99.62 per cent) achieved good grades (Division I to III), with 61,120 candidates (48.57 per cent) attaining Division I and 49,385 (39.24 per cent) achieving Division II,” he said.

Prof Mohamed said that between 92.25 per cent and 96.35 per cent of candidates in arts, social sciences, business and economics scored Division I or II, while 78.59 per cent of natural science students achieved those top divisions.

He said 67.91 per cent of teacher education candidates in science and business combinations scored Division III.

The highest numbers of candidates scoring Division I–II were in social science combinations (39,023), followed by natural sciences (37,067) and language combinations (18,445).

He also noted improved subject performance across the board, including in Basic Applied Mathematics (BAM), where over 64 per cent of candidates scored grades C, D, E, or S, corresponding to marks between 35 and 69.

“Two years ago, performance in BAM was unsatisfactory, but it is now improving,” he said.

Among 977 schools with ACSEE results this year, 725 (74.21 per cent) recorded an average performance of Division C or better.

Regarding the Teacher Education exams, Prof Mohamed said 6,959 candidates (99.49 per cent) out of 6,995 passed the Grade A Teacher Certificate Examination (GATCE), with 3,565 of them being female (99.36 per cent).

For the Grade A Special Course Teacher Certificate Examination (GATSCCE), 681 candidates (99.85 per cent) out of 682 passed.

On exam malpractice, Prof Mohamed said that results for 71 candidates, which include 70 school candidates and one teacher candidate (GATCE), were nullified for cheating, in accordance with Section 5(2) of the 2016 NECTA Act.

He added that the 244 candidates who could not complete their exams due to illness will be allowed to retake the exams in 2026.