FENDELL, Montserrado – The University of Liberia has announced the results of its May 13, 2017, entrance and placement exam, reporting a remarkable improvement.

The university disclosed on Wednesday that out of a total of 8,122 candidates that took the exam, 1,919 were successful.

“This year’s result shows a remarkable improvement compared to the last three examinations in terms of the number of students who meet the passing threshold,” the administration disclosed in a statement.

The university says a total of 1,661 students in the undergraduate category passed the exam. In this category, it says 466 candidates passed regularly, while 1,195 provisionally made it.

To pass this exam, the university says a student needs to score 50 percent or more in mathematics and 70 percent or more in English constitutes regular pass.

The university said an average of 50 percent or more, but less than 60 percent of mathematics and English scores was also considered as a provisional passing mark. Those students will be subject to certain restrictions when enrolled in the university.

The 6,074 candidates who were unsuccessful will not be admitted to the university.

Meanwhile, the university has approved the administering of a second exam scheduled for July 22, 2017.

It will be the first time the university would administer its entrance exam twice in one academic year.

The officer-in-charge of the university’s Testing and Evaluation Center, Peter Humphrey, considers this year’s result a significant improvement, saying, “This result is merit-based and transparent.”

“Entrance now at the UL is merit-based; there is no other route to the University of Liberia,” he said. “The testing center is independent, so I encourage more students to sit the test,” he said.

He said the university’s testing center is currently undergoing a major reform. To guarantee the integrity of the test, he said the number of people who had access to the test was reduced.

Last year, the university reported a mass academic failure in its entrance and placement exam administered in August.

Over 8,300 candidates sat the exam, but only 1,778 passed. Mass failure in entrance exams at the university has become almost routine. In 2015, the university’s president at the time, Emmett Dennis, reported that out of 13,000 candidates who took the entrance exam, only 15 students successfully passed.

He blamed teachers at the primary and secondary levels for partly contributing to the poor examination results. In 2013, all 25,000 candidates who took the exam also failed.

Featured photo by Jefferson Krua