First-year marks: 70% classwork, 30% exam

The short answer

First secondary is a transfer year, and every subject is marked out of 100:

70 marks of classwork
30 marks for the end-of-term exam

More than two thirds of the mark is earned in class, before you ever see an exam paper.

How the 70 splits

| Item | Share | | --- | --- | | Behaviour and attendance | 10% | | Class notebook and homework | 15% | | Weekly assessment | 15% | | First monthly test | 15% | | Second monthly test | 15% |

In the first term you sit three tests, two of them monthly tests worth 15% each.

What that means in practice

Absence costs marks. Behaviour and attendance alone are 10%.
The notebook and homework are not optional — 15% for work you do every week.
Weekly assessments started with the year. The 2026/2027 weekly assessments were published on the ministry's e-library and began Sunday 20 September 2026.
No all-nighter can save you. The exam is only 30%.

When is the end-of-term exam?

First-term exams for transfer years, first secondary among them, run Saturday 9 to Thursday 14 January 2027. Second-term exams are 22 to 27 May 2027, and the year ends Thursday 24 June 2027. The full calendar

Do first-year marks count toward the Bachaloria total?

No. The first year is a foundation year: pass or fail. The certificate's 600 marks come from the second and third years only. But passing it is what moves you up, and what you learn here is the base of your specialised subjects later. What a foundation year means

Study from week one on GoBachaloria

A 70% classwork rule means you need to understand every week, not at the end of term. Every first-year subject is on GoBachaloria with teachers you choose between, and the first 5 videos in each subject are free to watch before you pay anything.

Sources

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