PUTRAJAYA: Girls trumped boys for the second year running in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.

Female candidates scored National Average Grade (Gred Purata Nasional or GPN) points of 4.94 while boys scored 5.79. An excellent GPN would start at 0 whereas the GPN of those who failed in all their subjects is 9.

Furthermore, of the 7,987 students who excelled, 4,683 (58.63 per cent) were girls.

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These figures were released by Education Ministry director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom when he announced the SPM results for last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was visiting a school in Sabah, acknowledged the fine showing by female students.

Muhyiddin, also the education minister, said there was much to be done to improve the performance of students in rural areas and among boys as "it is no secret that the girls achieved better results".

Gladys Tan Yee Kim was stunned on learning that she had obtained 10A+ in the SPM examination last year. She is the nation's top achiever in the exam. (Photo: NST)

More students scored As in all their subjects in the examination last year. The overall performance of candidates also improved.

The number who got all As was 7,987, an increase of 27.24 per cent compared with 6,277 in 2008.

Of the 465,853 who took the examination, 214 scored A+, or at least 90 points, in all their subjects, putting them in the top 0.05 per cent.

Alimuddin said the students scored GPN of 5.34. In 2008, it was 5.51.

He also said that 199,155 candidates passed all the subjects they sat compared with 181,419 in 2008.

This was, however, marred by an increase in the number of candidates who failed the examination - 4,626 (1.15 per cent) compared with 2,589 in 2008.

Besides the introduction of a new grading system, another change this year is that result slips and certificates are marked with 'G' or 'gagal' to denote a failure in a particular subject and 'T' or 'tidak hadir' for absentees.

"This is meant to differentiate candidates who don't turn up for a paper and those who attend but fail the subject."

He also said special teams from Cambridge International Examinations and the London Chambers of Commerce and Industry had been invited to the SPM 2009 standards assessment meeting.

"The purpose was to ensure that the examination was consistent with international examination standards."