The MATSEC Examinations Board has been monitoring the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the candidates and educational institutions from the start of the outbreak. A number of mitigation measures were taken to address the negative impact. One of these measures was to revise all syllabi and their assessment. As a result, in September 2020, a number of practical components were cancelled due to the schools’ new operational procedures following the advice and guidelines issued by the Public Health Authorities.
An exception was made for the Physical Education practical sessions, as these are central to the assessment, and were retained because P.E. lessons in schools were taking place.
Following recent COVID-19 restrictions, which brought about new protocols for sports, the Board engaged in discussions with the Public Health Authorities on the measures which had to be followed for the P.E. practical sessions. In these past weeks of consultations with all stakeholders, it became clear that holding the practicals while securing safety for all candidates and examiners and keeping the validity of the assessment was not going to be possible.
Consequently, the MATSEC Examinations Board decided that P.E. practicals which were scheduled to start on 6 May 2021 will be postponed to July 2021, after the written examinations. There will be no change to the scheduled swimming sessions because these are set to start on 12 July 2021. Postponing to July ensures that, pending further updates from the health authorities on the epidemiological situation, candidates and examiners are well shielded and all disciplines can be assessed.
This postponement will not affect the publication of results and these will be issued within the planned timeframe. The MATSEC Examinations Board will be communicating this with SEC P.E. 2021 candidates. Any inconvenience is regretted as MATSEC continues to be committed to excellence in assessment standards and candidates’ health and safety. MATSEC would also like to note that all other examinations will take place as scheduled.