The Department of Examinations has prohibited tuition classes, seminars and a range of related commercial activity in the run-up to this month’s Grade 5 Scholarship and G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations.
The restrictions take effect from midnight on August 4 for the A/L examination and from midnight on August 5 for the Grade 5 Scholarship examination, and remain in force until each examination is completed.
The 2026 A/L examination runs from August 10 to September 5 at 2,532 examination centres. The Grade 5 Scholarship examination is scheduled for a single day, August 9, at 2,723 centres.
What the ban covers
Issued under the Public Examinations Act, the regulations prohibit organising or conducting tuition classes for examination candidates, and holding subject-related lectures, seminars and workshops.
They also ban the printing and distribution of predicted question papers, along with the publication, possession or circulation of posters, banners, brochures, handouts and other printed or electronic material claiming to supply examination questions or questions similar to them. Hiru News reported that the prohibition extends to promotion through social media.
The Commissioner General of Examinations has warned that any individual, institution or organisation acting in breach of the regulations commits an offence under the Public Examinations Act and may face legal action.
Members of the public have been asked to report violations to the nearest police station, to Police Headquarters, or to the Department of Examinations through its 1911 hotline or its School Examinations Organisation and Results Branch.
A recurring pre-exam measure
Similar prohibitions are imposed before each major national examination, and are aimed at the private tuition industry that markets intensive pre-exam seminars and “predicted paper” material to candidates and their families.
The Grade 5 Scholarship examination, confirmed in June for August 9, falls the day before the A/L examination begins, which is why the two bans take effect on consecutive days this year.
NewsFirst reported on Sunday that the prohibition also extends to the possession of such promotional material, not only its production and distribution, and confirmed the Grade 5 Scholarship examination will be held at 2,723 centres.
Sources: Daily Mirror, Hiru News, NewsFirst.
