Education: School slogans banned and grade inflation exposed in the 1447 guide

The Saudi Ministry of Education has announced a new set of regulations and guidelines within the 1447 AH (2026/2027) examination manual. These measures aim to improve the quality of the educational process and standardize criteria across all public, private, and international schools. This step is part of the Ministry's ongoing efforts to develop the assessment system and ensure fair results for all students.

Unifying official identity and prohibiting private slogans

In a move aimed at formalizing and standardizing educational standards, the new regulations strictly prohibit private and international schools from placing their own logos on certificates and academic documents, requiring them to use only the Ministry of Education's logo. This decision underscores the unified educational framework and ensures that all issued documents are officially recognized, regardless of the type of school the student attends.

The ministry also emphasized the exclusion of any additional subjects taught in private schools that fall outside the ministry-approved curriculum from official grade reports. The instructions clarified that these subjects will have no weight in the cumulative grade point average or academic record, thus ensuring equal opportunities for students across different educational systems when applying to universities or seeking employment in the future.

The context of digital transformation and quality control

These measures are consistent with the Ministry of Education's strategy, stemming from the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which focuses on improving the efficiency of the education system and enhancing transparency. The Ministry has been working for years to automate educational processes through advanced systems such as the "Noor" system and the "My School" platform. This new technological intervention for grade control is part of this comprehensive digital transformation, which aims to reduce errors or biases in human intervention in recording results.

Electronic mechanism to detect “grade inflation”

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the new guide is the introduction of a smart electronic system to monitor and track the phenomenon of "grade inflation," a phenomenon that has long sparked widespread debate regarding the gap between high school grades and standardized test results (aptitude and achievement tests). According to the new mechanism:

• The teacher will receive an immediate alert when grades are detected that do not conform to the expected performance curve, requiring review and verification before approval.
• If a teacher approves inflated grades without correction, a direct alert will be sent to the school principal, placing him in front of his responsibilities to intervene immediately and examine the evidence proving that the students deserve these grades, to ensure the fairness of the evaluation and the credibility of the certificates.

Bilingual documents and the elimination of job titles

To facilitate admission and registration procedures both locally and internationally, the Ministry has mandated that all schools issue academic documents and transcripts in Arabic with an equivalent English translation on the same document. This measure will save students and their parents the trouble and expense of translating certificates when applying for scholarships abroad or to international universities, and will enhance the international credibility of Saudi documents.

The directives also stipulated the cancellation of the phrases “first round” or “second round” from graduation documents, and to be satisfied with the date of issuance of the document and a clarification of the study system (paths or programs), which is considered a formal update that is in line with global practices in issuing certificates.

Strict measures against forgery and misconduct

Regarding disciplinary and legal matters, the Ministry has taken a firm stance against forgery. It has been decided that a student's current grade will be immediately removed from their record if it is proven that their previous grade certificate was obtained irregularly or forged, and the matter will be referred to the relevant authorities. As for conduct, separate certificates of good conduct have been abolished, and the grade recorded in the unified report will suffice. However, the student retains the right to receive a detailed statement in cases of conduct grade deductions to ensure transparency.