The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB), in conjunction with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, has released the 2025 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examination results, showing a national pass rate of 58.44 percent, up from 54.79 percent in 2024, marking the highest performance in five years.
Speaking after the release, Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Dr. Rachael Chimbwete Phiri, described the improvement as a milestone in the country’s pursuit of quality education.
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“As a ministry, we are very excited about these results, especially noting a significant increase to 58.44 percent, which is the highest in five years. This is a remarkable effort that shows progress in improving the performance of our students,” she said.
Dr. Phiri highlighted notable improvements in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) and Open Distance Learning (ODL) centres, which have historically struggled with performance. She attributed the gains to targeted interventions, including construction of laboratories, libraries, ICT facilities, and classroom blocks under projects such as ECOSID and EU-funded ISEM.
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“We have focused on resourcing CDSSs, which were lagging behind. The expansion of infrastructure and access to science and ICT education is making a real difference. For schools with zero pass rates, we are investigating causes and will implement targeted interventions,” she added.
MANEB Executive Director, Professor Dorothy Nampota, echoed the excitement, noting that improvements cut across categories of candidates.
“The results are good, and we can commend the ministry. There has been an improvement across the board — male and female candidates, special needs learners, and different school categories have all shown better performance compared to last year,” Nampota said.
Out of 194,584 candidates who sat for the exams, 113,708 passed, qualifying for the MSCE certificate. MANEB awards the certificate to candidates who pass at least six subjects, including English, with a credit in one subject, or five subjects, including English, with a credit in at least three.
According to MANEB, 62.8 percent of male candidates (69,367 out of 100,909) passed, while 53.74 percent of female candidates (50,341 out of 93,676) were successful.
Internal candidates performed better, registering a 62.77 percent pass rate, compared to 44.67 percent for external candidates. Open and Distance Learning (ODL) candidates recorded a 55.03 percent pass rate, while Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates achieved 57 percent.
Among school categories, national secondary schools led with an impressive 96.85 percent pass rate, followed by district boarding schools (91.78 percent) and city day secondary schools (80.73 percent). Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) had a 53.9 percent pass rate, while private schools posted 64.32 percent.
On district performance, Dedza, Karonga, and Mzuzu City emerged in the top three, with the highest percentages of candidates obtaining distinctions. Meanwhile, Thyolo, Mwanza, and Nsanje ranked lowest.
Mtendere Secondary School in Dedza was the best-performing school, with over 53 percent distinctions, followed by Loyola Jesuit in Kasungu and Marist Secondary in Dedza. On the other hand, several private and community schools, including Dzukani, Tsogolo, and Chiunda, registered no distinctions.
MANEB further disclosed that Additional Mathematics, Religious and Moral Education, and Bible Knowledge were the top-performing subjects in terms of distinctions, while Biology, Chichewa, and English had the least.
Candidates or their parent/guardian can access individual results for the 2025 PSLCE and JCE examinations on HERE
MANEB Executive Director said the improvement in the pass rate demonstrates progress in Malawi’s education system but also pointed to challenges that still need collective attention to improve equity and quality in learning outcomes.
