National Curriculum

Sri Lankan National Curriculum

The Sri Lankan national 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 the university entrance examination. It is optional for students to sit for the scholarship examination during the final year of Primary School (Grade 5) and based on the marks of this extremely competitive examination the students may get an opportunity to get transferred to a prominent national school.

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-Levels. 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 an entrance examination for Sri Lanka national universities.

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

1. Physical Science (Combined Maths, Physics and Chemistry)
2. Biological Science (Biology, Physics, Chemistry)
3. Commerce and Accounting
4. Arts

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

Normal Ages