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103. While there was a marked decline in candidate performance on Profile 1, Knowledge,
and Profile 2, Comprehension, performance on Profile 3, Reasoning, remained consistent with

2016.

104. The decline in candidate performance was most noticeable in the areas of Problem
Solving and Algebra, but there was also a decline in Algebra, Relations, Functions and Graphs,
Geometry and Trigonometry, Vectors and Matrices and Measurement.

FAC (12) 2017 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

105. FAC heard that in January 2017, approximately 63 per cent of the candidates attained
acceptable grades, Grades I–III, compared with 60 per cent in January 2016.

106. There was a marginal increase in the performance at Grades I-III for Paper 01, the
Multiple Choice paper - 85 per cent in January 2017 compared with 84 per cent in January
2016. There was a similar improved performance on Paper 02, the Structured paper, and
Paper 032, the Alternative to the School-Based Assessment.

107. The composite profile performance for Grades I-III declined by 1 percent for Profile 2,
Productivity Tools. However, the performance on Profile 1, Theory, and Profile 3, Problem
Solving, improved by 3 and 4 per cent respectively in January 2017, compared with January
2016.

SCIENCE
FAC (13) 2017 - BIOLOGY

108. FAC heard that January 2017 was the second sitting of the examination based on the
revised syllabus. Approximately 47 per cent of the candidates attained acceptable grades,

Grades I–III, compared with 39 per cent in January 2016. Candidate performance improved in
all papers.

109. The Examining Committee noted that the topics which proved problematic in this
sitting were: surface area to volume ratio, human eye defects, vectors of infectious diseases,
germination, the development of the embryo in humans, mitosis versus meiosis, structure of
chromosomes and the definition of the term ‘species’.

110. FAC heard two cases of hardship for Biology in January 2017 and accepted the Subject
Awards Committee’s recommendations as follows:

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