PETALING JAYA: A new grading system for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) will be implemented from this year.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said the change would provide a detailed breakdown of excellent candidates who obtained grade As in the examination.

“The change means there will now be a new grade of A+. Previously, the highest grade possible in the SPM was 1A,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Under the present system, students are graded as 1A, 2A, 3B, 4B, 5C, 6C, 7D, 8E and 9G while the new grades would be from A+ to G (see chart).

Alimuddin said the change was based on feedback from various quarters that the existing system did not provide a more detailed breakdown of excellent students.

“The change in the grading system will enable more qualified candidates to be chosen for training programmes and new scholarships, such as the one announced by the Prime Minister recently,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said in June that a new category of Public Services Department scholarships would be introduced next year based purely on merit, regardless of race.

Alimuddin said the Cabinet approved the change in the grading system last month.

“This will not affect the examination at all as it only involves a change in the grades given,” he said.

He said school principals have been directed to explain the new grading system to students sitting for the SPM this year.