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Students in Std 4, 5, 6 and Forms 1, 2 & 3 sit for the UASA for the first time this month (January 2023) and there has been a number of questions on this on our Facebook group. This post hopes to answer some of those questions.
FAQ on UASA
1. What is UASA?
UASA stands for Ujian Akhir Semester Akademik. As the name suggest this exam or evaluation is held at the end of the academic session.
2. Why is the UASA held in January?
As the name suggests, the UASA is an end of academic session test. It is not to be confused with end of the year test. Currently the academic year ends in February, which is why the UASA is being held in January.
3. Is the UASA something new that is recently introduced?
No, the UASA is not recently introduced. In fact, it was announced in June 2022 by the former Minister of Education.
Read more about it here: https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2022/06/961988/ada-ujian-akhir-sesi-sekolah-rendah-menengah-rendah
Later on in November, the Lembaga Peperiksaan uploaded a video on the introduction to the UASA and explained how it was going to be implemented starting from 2023.
4. Are students in Std 1 - 3 required to sit for the UASA?
No, the UASA is only for students in the following categories
Primary school - Std 4, 5 & 6
Secondary school - Form 1, 2 & 3
5. Is the UASA supposed to replace UPSR and PT3?
No. After UPSR and PT3 were abolished, schools conducted School Based Assessments or PBS (Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah) where students are assessed regularly not only in academics but also in non-academics through PAJSK (Pentaksiran Psikometrik dan Pentaksiran Aktiviti Jasmani Sukan Kokurikulum)
The UASA is to further strengthen the PBS by having written examinations at the end of an academic session.
6. How is the UASA different from UPSR and PT3?
The UASA is not a centralized examination. However, the MOE will prepare a question bank for schools to generate their own testpapers. Schools also have the autonomy to choose their own dates to hold the examintions, within a given time frame. The UASA exam is not centralized because the exams will be held at different times and the papers will not be exactly the same. However, the exam is a unified exam because all schools will use the same pool of questions to generate their exam papers.
Another difference is students will only be tested for the academic year alone. For example, in PT3, students will be tested for what they have learned from Forms 1 until Form 3 whereas in UASA, students will only be tested for that year alone. eg Form 2 only or Form 3 only etc.
7. Who prepares the test papers? School or MOE?
Schools will generate their own test papers by selecting from a question bank prepared by the MOE. The MOE will prepare a question bank for 5 subjects in primary school.
- Bahasa Malaysia
- Bahasa Inggeris
- Matematk
- Sains
- Sejarah
8. Is it true that a pass in Sejarah is required to advance to Form 1?
There has been some rumors that a pass in Sejarah is now required or at least a TP4-TP6. We do not know the answer to this but like all other rumours, common sense should prevail. There is no confirmation for now. However, there is no harm to err on the caution side because Sejarah is a required pass subject in SPM. Wouldn't it be better to start preparing and building a student's foundation from young ie during the primary school years? Sejarah should not be ignored since it is a required pass subject in SPM.
9. Will there be marks given for the papers?
Students will be graded in a similar fashion as PBD (Pentaksiran Bilik Darjah) ie within a score range from TP1 to TP6 (TP = Tahap Penguasaan or Mastery Level).
In the past, SJKC and SJKT students were required to get a minimum of Grade D in UPSR to advance to Form 1 directly.
After the abolishment of UPSR and before UASA began, students were required to achieve Mastery Level TP4 to TP6 in their school assessment for Bahasa Melayu (BM) language subject in order to move up to Form 1. Pupils who attained TP1 to TP3 in the assessment will be further assessed in the Bahasa Melayu Assessment Literacy Test (UPLBM). Those failing the UPLBM are required to take a one-year transition class (Kelas Peralihan) to improve their knowledge of Bahasa Melayu before entering secondary school.
We believe that it will be the same for UASA in that students must achieve at least TP4 in order to advance to Form 1.
Whatever it may be, the most important thing is to prepare your child well in Bahasa Malaysia. Bahasa Malaysia is another required pass subject in SPM. Don't put it in the back burner just because they are studying in SJKC or SJKT. It is very important to make sure that they have a certain mastery of the language especially if you intend to send them to SMK so that they can have a smooth transition from and all Chinese/Tamil speaking environment to all BM speaking environement in secondary school. Do not neglect BM and you won't have to worry about this aspect at all.
11. Where can I get more details on the UASA?
You can go to the Lembaga Peperiksaan website to download the Administrative Guidelines for UASA.
12. What is the new format for the exam papers?
Below are the formats for the UASA papers, You can view the videos from DidikTV by KPM or see the attached formats by Lembaga Peperiksaan.
Format for the UASA BM paper Std 4,5,6
Format for the UASA Bahasa Inggeris paper Std 4,5,6
Format for the UASA Sejarah paper for Std 4,5,6
Buku Format Instrumen Pentaksiran Dan Pelaporan Ujian Akhir Sesi Akademik Sekolah Rendah (Tahun 4,5 dan 6)
As for secondary schools, the MOE will prepare the question bank for the following 20 papers.
Buku Format Instrumen Pentaksiran Dan Pelaporan Ujian Akhir Sesi Akademik Sekolah Menengah (Tingkatan 1,2 dan 3)
A check on a couple of physical bookstores shows it is not available. However, we found it in a few online bookstores
UASA Workbooks for Primary Std 1, Std 2, Std 3
Go to Funbooks On Shopee to view these UASA workbooks from Penerbitan Ilmu Didik
Go to Bookstation on Shopee to view these UASA books from Penerbitan Pelangi
UASA workbooks for SJKC Std 4, Std 5, Std 6
UASA Workbooks for Form 1, Form 2, Form 3
For those who prefer Lazada, you can also search for UASA books on Lazada.
Tip: Try searching for the keywords using the publisher names like "Sasbadi" or "Pelangi" may yield better results than "UASA workbooks".
