Maltese A level students are up in arms over MATSEC’s decision to omit December resit results for University admission.

A petition has been launched after students were informed that the results of their December exams would count for nought when it comes to admission points.

“There was no grand announcement and there was no outcry,” Timmy Camillieri, an A level student behind the petition said, warning that students already plagued with pandemic woes have been put at a further disadvantage.

In just two days, the petition has gathered over 500 signatures.

According to MATSEC regulations, a student needs to garner 44 points from their A levels to secure a place at University. After major disruptions to education due to COVID-19, the point threshold was lowered to 36.

However in doing so, the education board also removed the weight of December resit exams, stripping students of a second chance to get those points.

“This decision, like many others made by the Ministry for Education, was taken quietly and in line with MATSEC’s typical indifference towards the students it oversees,” the student added.

Camillieri warned of the mental toll it’s taken on those sitting for A levels. He himself sat for his first exam after a tough three-week-long quarantine.

“It’s easy to forget, this years’ A level students spent the vast majority of the year in Examination Purgatory, waiting for a single clear instruction from the powers above, instructions that rarely ever came,” he said.

And whilst acknowledging the slight advantage that the alterations gave, he said it can’t make up for the backtracking and awful communication MATSEC forced upon students in 2020.

“I really do hope that they alter their stance on the resits, even if they raise the points threshold back to its usual number.”

Lovin Malta has reached out to the Ministry of Education to comment but has not received an answer at the time of writing.

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