The 2026 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination was held on Sunday, August 9, at 2,723 examination centres across the island, with 294,089 candidates eligible to sit the paper.

Commissioner General of Examinations Indika Kumari Liyanage gave the applicant figure. The examination is the first national selection test in the Sri Lankan school system and determines admission to popular secondary schools.

Of the total, 220,366 candidates are registered in the Sinhala medium and 73,723 in the Tamil medium.

Timetable and rules

Liyanage set out the arrangements at a media briefing on Saturday morning. Paper II will be distributed first, from 9.30 a.m. to 10.45 a.m. After a short break, Paper I runs from 11.15 a.m. to 12.15 p.m.

Candidates have been advised to reach their centres at least an hour before the start. Parents will not be allowed inside examination centres.

The department told candidates to read the instructions on the question paper carefully, write their index numbers accurately and answer in clear handwriting. Mobile phones, smartwatches, notes and other electronic devices are barred from the examination hall.

Tuition ban in force

The Department of Examinations said all tuition classes, subject lectures, seminars and workshops connected to the 2026 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination ended at midnight on Wednesday, August 5. The prohibition remains in force until examination activities are concluded, and promotional advertising for the examination through print and electronic media is also barred until it concludes.

The ban is a standing measure applied before national examinations to prevent question paper leaks and to stop last-minute private classes from disrupting the examination timetable.

Held amid a wet spell

The examination falls in a week of unsettled weather. The Department of Meteorology, the Disaster Management Centre and examinations officials met earlier this week to finalise contingency arrangements for both the Scholarship paper and the GCE Advanced Level examination, which begins on August 10.

Several districts have been under heavy rain and landslide advisories in recent days, and the University of Peradeniya suspended academic activities as a precaution. The Supreme Court last week rejected a bid to postpone the A/L examination.

Update (August 8): Ada Derana, Daily Mirror and NewsFirst each reported the Commissioner General’s Saturday briefing, corroborating the 2,723 centres and 294,089 candidates and adding the medium-wise breakdown, the paper timings and the examination-hall restrictions set out above.

Update — August 9: examination held, results planned within a month

The examination was held as scheduled on Sunday at the 2,723 centres, with 294,089 candidates eligible to sit.

Commissioner General of Examinations Indika Kumari Liyanage said plans are in place to release the results within a month. The Department of Examinations has not given a specific release date.

A/L examination begins Monday

The GCE Advanced Level examination begins on Monday, August 10, and runs until September 5 at 2,532 examination centres, Liyanage confirmed.

She stressed that candidates must have their signatures certified on their admission cards before arriving at the examination hall — a standing requirement that invalidates an admission card if it is not met.

The A/L examination falls entirely within the August school holidays, with schools due to reopen on September 7, two days after the papers end.

A note on candidate numbers: LankaNewz is not reporting a total candidate figure for the A/L examination. NewsFirst put the total at 372,310 on Sunday, a figure we could not corroborate against any other verified newsroom, and the Department of Examinations’ own pre-examination notice gives a materially lower total. We will publish the figure once it is confirmed by a verified source.

Sources