BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is reporting an increase in the number of students scoring above average in mathematics, which was the subject of controversy this year.

This was revealed on Thursday as CXC officials delivered the results of then May/June 2023 examinations.

Delivering the preliminary results in St Kitts and Nevis, director of operations with CXC, Dr Lisa Manning said that overall, students did well in the various examinations.

However, she said more attention should be paid to specific areas, including the school-based assessments (SBAs), due to an increase in non-submissions. She also expressed concern about absenteeism from examinations, and cheating.

There was an increase in the number of candidates and subject entries in this year’s examinations administered by the CXC, including in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE), the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), and the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ).

Manning also indicated that the investigation into the leaked mathematics paper two in Jamaica in May, for which CXC was forced to adjust its marking scheme using a modified approach, was still ongoing.

“The investigation continues within territory and we are working with the police to close that matter,” she said.

The modified approach to marking this year’s maths paper included the use of the SBAs and paper one scores.

For the CSEC mathematics exam there was an overall improvement in performance at 43 per cent, up from 37 per cent last year and 41 per cent the prior year.

The number of grade ones was up slightly, from six per cent last year to eight per cent. There was also a two per cent increase in the number of grade twos and grade threes for this subject, to reach 14 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively, when compared to last year’s results.