Thanaweya Amma students anticipate university life as success rates reach 79.2%

CAIRO – 23 July 2025: Hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in Thanaweya Amma, Egypt’s national high school system, celebrated their success on Tuesday, now focused on which university aligns with their ambitions and grades.

Success rates for the academic year 2024-2025 hit 79.2% for the new system and 72.7% for the old system, according to the Ministry of Education, reflecting a positive trend in educational development in Egypt.

A total of 728,892 students, both boys and girls, participated in the Thanaweya Amma exams this year, out of 785,099 students enrolled in both systems. Of this total, 574,347 students passed.

Most students were enrolled in the science branch, with 451,453 participants in the new system. Among them, 332,183 succeeded, constituting a success rate of 79.6%.

The literature branch followed, albeit with lower numbers; 174,171 students were enrolled in the new system, 159,434 attended, and 117,407 passed, representing a success rate of 73.6%.

The math branch included 112,619 students, with 107,947 attending and 92,594 succeeding and achieving an impressive success rate of 85.8%.

In the old system, 46,856 students were enrolled, with 44,251 attending exams and 32,162 passing.

The science branch alone had 29,008 attendees, achieving a success rate of 73.1%. Meanwhile, the literature and math branches saw 10,565 and 4,678 students attending, respectively, with success rates of 73.4% and 68.4%.

 

Choosing Universities

Students are now preparing for the upcoming announcement by the Ministry of Education, which will allow them to apply for universities electronically, as is customary each year.

Experts advise students not to lose hope if their grades fall short of expectations, emphasizing that Thanaweya Amma “only represents a starting point” in a career that can thrive at any place with dedication and effort.

Many students will need to adjust their ambitions based on their grades, as nearly all Thanaweya Amma students compete for admission to top-ranked universities, including those for medicine, engineering, and political science.

Meanwhile, Minister of Labor Mohamed Gobran urged Thanaweya Amma graduates to consider the future job market when choosing their faculties.

In remarks to Egypt Today, he encouraged students to explore fields that offer promising opportunities, particularly in information technology, while steering clear of traditional administrative roles.

Gobran emphasized that graduates should focus on in-demand professions, such as medicine and nursing, noting the high demand for doctors abroad, particularly in highly specialized fields, besides technology-related specialties.

Upgrading Education

Egypt is constantly upgrading the school curricula across various educational stages, including the crucial Thanaweya Amma, which shapes the university life for each student based on their grades.

Since Minister of Education Mohamed Abdel Latif took post in July 2024, he led consecutive changes in the school system, including an extension of the school week for students across various grades to six days, with one day allocated for activities.

Last year, he also announced that the second foreign language, predominantly French or German, will transition into a pass-fail subject for all three branches instead of being a core subject previously.

Egypt is also preparing to apply a new system for the high school (Grades 10,11,12), which aims to substitute the Thanaweya Amma system starting next year for Grade 10 students.

The new baccalaureate system’s preparatory level will include core subjects include religious education, Arabic language, Egyptian history, mathematics, integrated sciences, philosophy, logic, and a first foreign language.

It focuses on developing intellectual and critical thinking skills instead of relying solely on memorization. It incorporates a multidisciplinary approach that blends scientific, literary, and artistic subjects.

The philosophy of the new system is based on providing multiple opportunities for the student to improve his/her total grades in the second and third years of secondary school.