PUTRAJAYA, April 24- The number of candidates absent from the 2024 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination recorded a decline when 6,246 candidates were recorded absent, compared to 8,676 candidates (2.5 percent) in 2023.

According to the Director-General of Education, Datuk Azman Adnan, the figure showed a decrease of 2,430 candidates, equivalent to 0.7 percent.

"This decrease shows the effectiveness of various initiatives and interventions implemented by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE).

"Of the total candidates registered in the 2024 SPM examination, 386,714 candidates are new candidates who registered for at least six (6) subjects," he said at a press conference announcing the analysis of the 2024 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination results today.

He added that of the total, 344,919 were candidates from MOE schools, of which 338,673 candidates appeared for the examination, equivalent to 98.2 percent.

Earlier, he also announced that 14,179 candidates successfully obtained excellent grades (A+, A, A-) in all subjects, compared to 11,713 candidates in 2023.

"The overall achievement of the candidates also showed a positive trend, with the Overall Grade Point Average (GPK) index decreasing to 4.49 points compared to 4.60 points in 2023," he said.

He added that in terms of location, candidates in urban areas recorded a GPK of 4.47 compared to 4.58 the previous year.

Meanwhile, rural candidates also showed an improvement with a GPK of 4.92, better than 5.01 in 2023.

The achievement gap between urban and rural candidates is also narrowing, with a difference of only 0.02 points, compared to the previous year.