WEP-Sri Lanka

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Education Profiles

SRI LANKA

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Education Overview

Elementary Education

Lower Secondary Education

Upper Secondary Education

Higher Education

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HIGHER EDUCATION

Admissions Requirement
Length
Assessment and Promotion
Grading Scale


Students are selected for universities on the basis of their performance on the GCE A-Level examination. The minimum admission requirement is a pass in three subjects and a mark not less than 25% in the fourth subject with an aggregate of at least 180 points. However, there are no special admission criteria for enrolment in courses conducted by the Open University of Sri Lanka. Higher education institutions also include: one Open University; one medical college; and ten higher education institutes, five of which are post-graduate institutes. Ten colleges affiliated with universities offer diploma courses. Another institute which has taken steps to grant degrees and academic distinctions is the National Institute of Education. Colleges of education and teacher colleges provide tertiary education courses for teacher aspirants and in-service teachers, respectively. A number of professional institutes also offer tertiary education programmes.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Completion of upper secondary school and successful completion of the General Certificate of Education, Advanced Level examinations are the general admission requirement. The examination stream studied at the upper secondary level determines the field of study allowed at the university level. In addition, students may be admitted on a limited basis to some university programmes upon completion of National Diploma programmes.

LENGTH
Three to four years for bachelor’s degree programmes, two years for master’s degrees, and two to five years for doctoral degrees.

ASSESSMENT AND PROMOTION
Students are continuously assessed through coursework, projects, and annual and semester examinations.

GRADING SCALE
Two grading scales are used at universities in Sri Lanka:

Percentile	WES Equivalency
70 – 100	A
55 – 69	B+
40 – 54	B
30 – 39	C
0 - 29	F

Degree Classification	WES Equivalency
First Class	A
Upper Secondary	B+
Lower Secondary	B
Pass	C