The Ministry of Education has issued a special circular, dated 10/10/2025, supplementing the instructions in Circular 2008/17, concerning the admission of G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) students to schools.

This circular introduces a change in the procedure for admitting students from a school in a well-facilitated district to a school in a difficult district for A/L studies.

key changes

·         Temporary Attachment: For the first time, the new circular introduces a method for admitting students on a basis of "temporary attachment".

·         Preventing Fraud: The main objective is to prevent certain students from deliberately selecting difficult schools to gain university admission with lower Z-scores—a form of fraudulent activity that disadvantages genuine students of difficult schools.

·         Mandatory Admission (If Vacancy Exists): Under the new provisions, if a student from a school in a well-facilitated district applies to a school in a difficult district and vacancies exist, they must be admitted on an attachment basis. However, the student is granted a temporary attachment, not permanent admission.

·         Exam and Z-Score Calculation: A crucial point in the Education Secretary's circular is that the attached student must sit the G.C.E. A/L examination as a student of their previous well-facilitated school. Furthermore, for the purpose of Z-score calculation for university admission, the student will be considered a student of a well-facilitated district.

·         Loss of Advantage: Consequently, even though the student studies at a difficult school, they lose the Z-score advantage typically afforded to students of difficult schools for university entrance.

designated difficult districts

The districts designated as difficult in the circular are: Nuwara Eliya, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mulaittivu, Vavuni̇ya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Monaragala, and Ratnapura.