G.C.E. (General Certificate of Education) Ordinary Level (Sri Lanka)

G.C.E. (General Certificate of Education) Ordinary Level Examination is a government exam held by the Examination Department in Sri Lanka for 16 years old students (and higher) who study in all the government schools in grade 11, as a basic qualification to face the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination. Some also apply for this examination as private candidates due to several reasons (eg: for job qualifications) But the students who are 16 years old and below 16 years old cannot apply as private candidates. Some students sit for G.C.E. O/L Examination more than one time in order to pass several subjects. G.C.E. O/L Examination is normally held in the month of December. Passing this examination was a must to sit for G.C.E. A/L Examination but from 2018, it’s about to change. This examination consist of 6 main subjects along with three optional subjects which can be selected according to the candidates’ wish and all together 9 subjects. The 6 main subjects are as below,

1.         Buddhism

            Saivaneri

            Catholicism    

            Christianity

            Islam

2.         Sinhala Language and Literature

            Tamil Language and Literature

3.         History

4.         Science

5.         Mathematics

6.         English

The optional subjects are categorized in to three parts. They are as below,

01.       Business & Accounting Studies

            Geography

            Civic Education

            Entrepreneurship Studies

            Second Language (Sinhala)

            Second Language (Tamil)

            Pali

            Sanskrit

            French

            German

            Hindi

            Japanese

            Arabic

            Korean

            Chinese

            Russian

02.      Oriental Music

           Western Music

           Carnatic Music

           Oriental Dancing

           Bharatha Dancing

           Art

           Appreciation of English Literary Texts

           Appreciation of Sinhala Literary Texts

           Appreciation of Tamil Literary Texts

           Appreciation of Arabic Literary Texts

           Drama and Theater

03.      Information & Communication Technology

           Agriculture & Food Technology

           Aquatic Bio resources Technology

           Arts & Crafts

           Home Economics

           Health & Physical Education

           Communication & Media Studies

           Design & Construction Technology

           Design & Mechanical Technology

           Design, Electrical & Electronic Technology

           Electronic Writing & Shorthand

All the above mentioned subjects are not available in each and every government school due to lack of teachers.

The grades for the above subjects are normally graded as below,

                                      Marks between             Grade

                                           100-75                          A

                                             74-65                          B

                                             64-50                          C

                                             49-35                          S

                                        below 35                         W

Candidates who attain a grade of ‘W’ are considered failed to that particular subject. Sometimes these mark levels are changed due to some reasons.

Candidates must prove their identity before sitting for this exam by the national identity card or by the postal identity card and a number of advices are given to the candidates who write for G.C.E. O/L in schools by the authorities. Use of calculators, correcting fluid and any electronic device including mobile phones for any subject in this examination is not allowed and therefore it is a punishable offence even to bring them in to the examination hall.  

Ten candidates who performed well in this examination are selected and announced on the release date of results. They are selected by the total marks of the main 6 subjects that a candidate attains. Marks of the optional subject are not considered in this purpose. As per now (from 2017 onwards) March 28th has been announced as the release date of the result in each year by the Minister of Education.