CAPE results rise as CSEC Maths improves – CXC

Caribbean candidates recorded a 93.52 per cent Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) pass rate and a four per cent rise in Mathematics passes at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) this year, preliminary regional examination results show.

Exam performance across the region improved this year, with gains in higher-level certifications and expanded vocational pathways, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) announced on Tuesday.

Presenting the preliminary results for the sixth-form level CAPE, the lower-level CSEC, and the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC), CXC operations chief Dr Nicole Manning highlighted areas of academic growth and new developments in regional assessment.

According to Dr Manning, overall candidate performance at the CAPE level continued to rise, with high pass rates across the board.

“It is so pleasing to note that our regional percentage of acceptable grades have gone up a notch again for CAPE,” Dr Manning said. “So we are seeing 93.52 per cent of our candidates overall receiving acceptable grades.”

Top-performing subjects for the CAPE cohort included Caribbean Studies, Information Technology, Environmental Science, Physics and Communication Studies. Dr Manning highlighted strong performance in core university matriculation requirements, including foundational subjects across several territories.

“We had 93 per cent of the candidates sitting in Communication Studies receiving an acceptable grade,” she reported.

“This is very important, similarly to the Caribbean Studies because you know there are two subjects that candidates in general need to go to university; candidates are going on whether to higher education, whether for employment, and these are two very important subjects for them.”

While advanced mathematical subjects such as Pure Mathematics Unit 1 showed areas requiring continued intervention in some territories, CAPE results remained consistently high overall, Dr Manning. She urged regional education authorities to use comparative data to improve academic performance across jurisdictions.

CSEC examination performance also improved, supported by strong results in technical and business-oriented subjects.

“The CSEC paints a little different story but a good story nevertheless, and the overall performance being 72.18 per cent, if you notice there, a slight increase over 2025,” Dr Manning said.

Information Technology, Principles of Business, English A, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, and Human and Social Biology were among the top-performing CSEC subjects. Dr Manning also highlighted an improvement in Mathematics, where the regional pass rate rose to 42 per cent.

“The regional percentage being 42 per cent, this is a four per cent increase over the previous year, and this is a good story. “I don’t want anybody to be crying because any improvement in math is a good improvement, and so it’s important for us to be happy about that… improvement is improvement.”

Beyond traditional academic routes, CXC continues to expand its range of qualifications, including the CCSLC, associate degrees, diplomas and Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQs).

The CCSLC serves as a foundation between primary education and the early secondary years, with most candidates attaining grades in the competent and mastery ranges in subjects such as Integrated Science, Modern Languages and Digital Literacy.

Demand for technical assessment also rose, with registered CVQ candidates increasing to 4 977 across 37 occupational areas in 2026, compared with 3 719 across 36 areas in the previous year. More than 7 000 applicants are pursuing associate degree pathways through modular qualifications that facilitate two-year university articulation.

CXC is implementing modularised syllabi and introducing flexible assessment options, such as CTEC, to allow candidates to build qualifications over time. Dr Manning encouraged candidates to access their preliminary results.

“We are transitioning to that sphere where we’ll have more and more… so I want to encourage persons as you access your preliminary results that you are seeing the portal… I say thank you and congratulations to candidates across the region.” 

(RR)