National School Curriculum in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan national school curriculum is divided into five parts – Primary, Junior Secondary, Senior Secondary, Collegiate and Tertiary.

Primary education lasts for 5 to 6 years (Grades 1-5), Junior/Secondary lasts for 4 years (Grades 6-9) and Senior Secondary lasts for 2 years (Grades 10 and 11) in preparation for the GCE O-Levels. Students must pass GCE O-Levels to enter the collegiate level and study for another 2 years (Grades 12 and 13) to sit for GCE A-Levels, which is also the university entrance examination.

The Sri Lankan GCE O-Level and A-Level examinations are conducted by the Department of Examinations. It is based on the British O-Level and A-Level qualifications, respectively. The O-Level examination is a qualification in its own right but more often taken as a pre-requisite for the more in-depth and academically rigorous A-Level. It is taken by students at the end of the senior secondary school or by non-school external candidates. 

The A-Level examination is taken by school candidates at the end of Collegiate Level or by non-school external candidates. This qualification is used as the University entrance exam for the state universities in Sri Lanka. 

There are 4 major fields of study at Collegiate Level and students should study for 2 years at this level before taking the examination.

At Royal Institute International Schools, we conduct the following courses of study in the National Stream;

In each stream, students should face a minimum of 3 subjects. Additionally, there is a General English Test and a Common General Test. The results of the General English Test are not taken into consideration for the University Entrance selection criteria, but students are required to obtain a pass mark for the Common General Test.