The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB), working with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, has released the 2026 results for the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) and the Junior Certificate of Education (JCE).
According to the joint statement released on Saturday, signed by Ken Ndala, Secretary for Education Science and Technology and Dorothy Nampota, Executive Director for MANEB, PSLCE has recorded 81.17% while JCE has recorded 81.21% pass rate.
Of the 245,048 candidates who sat the PSLCE examination, 198,903 passed after getting passes in five subjects, including English.
Male candidates outperformed their female counterparts, with 85.69 percent of the 118,511 boys who sat the exam passing, compared with 76.94 percent of the 126,537 girls. Among the 2,726 Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates, 1,949 passed, a 71.50 percent pass rate, with male SNE candidates recording a higher pass rate (73.46 percent) than female SNE candidates (69.47 percent).
By region, the North recorded the strongest performance, with 19.65 percent of candidates earning A’s and B’s, followed by Central West at 18.00 percent. Central East trailed the other divisions at 11.71 percent.
Zomba Urban emerged as the best-performing district nationally at 29.13 percent, ahead of Mzuzu City (26.91 percent) and Lilongwe West (25.73 percent). Neno recorded the lowest proportion of A’s and B’s among all districts, at 3.87 percent.
English was the strongest-performing subject overall (27.95 percent A’s and B’s), while Arts and Life Skills lagged behind the rest at 3.67 percent.
Of the 198,903 successful candidates, 110,522 — 55,994 boys and 54,528 girls — have been selected to begin Form 1 in secondary schools this year, a transition rate of 55.57 percent, a notable jump from 47.59 percent in 2025. Among SNE candidates who passed, 901 have been selected for secondary school placement.
At the JCE level, 154,880 candidates sat the examination, and 125,777 passed, for an 81.21 percent pass rate. Passing the JCE requires passes in at least six subjects, including English.
Male candidates again posted a higher pass rate — 84.04 percent of 75,888 boys — compared with 78.49 percent of 78,992 girls. Among SNE candidates, 82.41 percent of the 978 who sat the exam passed.
Results varied sharply by school category. National secondary schools recorded the strongest performance, with a 91.16 percent pass rate, followed by District Boarding schools at 88.54 percent. Open and Distance Learning (ODL) candidates recorded the lowest pass rate among the categories tracked, at 55.09 percent, while external candidates passed at 62.62 percent, compared with 89.19 percent for internal candidates.
Regionally, Shire Highlands led the divisions with 19.11 percent A’s and B’s, while South West trailed at 13.75 percent. Zomba Urban again topped the district rankings, at 26.95 percent, while Nsanje recorded the lowest proportion of A’s and B’s, at 8.30 percent.
Ludzi Girls in Mchinji posted the best overall school performance nationally, with 95.71 percent of its results falling in the A and B range, followed by St. Mauritius in Rumphi (94.98 percent) and Jalira Girls, also in Rumphi (93.89 percent). At the other end of the scale, Ajemson, a private school in Lilongwe City, recorded a 0.00 percent pass rate, the lowest in the country.
Among subjects, Woodwork recorded the highest proportion of A’s and B’s at 65.57 percent, while Biology was the weakest-performing subject nationally, at 4.93 percent.
