The standard of the paper compares well with those of the previous years. The topics for composition were similar to those set in recent years - letter writing, newspaper article, debate and story-telling. Similarly, the passages for comprehension and summary exercises were on very familiar topics. On the whole, the questions were within the competence of the candidates.

However, despite the deliberate attempt to give the candidates tests within their experience and capabilities, the performance of candidates did not show any improvement on previous years' performance. There was, instead, a degeneration of standards in some areas especially the summary test in which many candidates recorded a 'zero' score.