National Third Form Exam

About the NTFE

The National Third Form Examination (NTFE) was introduced in 2001. This exam was intended as a diagnostic tool for assisting teachers, students and parents/guardians to plan collaboratively, a program of study that meets the learning needs of individual students as they pursue the next two years of their continuing secondary education. The 2001 NTFE was introduced with English Language and Mathematics. Science and Social Studies were added in 2002.

The subject matter of the NTFE is based on the Curriculum Guides for Levels 7 to 9 (Forms 1 to 3) which have been distributed to all secondary-age schools nationwide. The NTFE has three components: Paper 1 (Multiple Choice), Paper 2 (Structured/Essay Questions) and Paper 3 (School-Based Project) with a weighting of 30%, 45% and 25% respectively.

The marking of scripts for Paper 1 and 2 is done externally by the Ministry of Education. Projects are marked by specialist subject teachers at the participating schools and a sample of the marked projects from each school is moderated by the external marking team.