STUDENT performance has notably improved in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), and the City and Guilds external examinations this year, Education and Youth Minister Fayval Williams is reporting.

Williams, who was providing highlights from the soon-to-be released results of the exams during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday at Jamaica House, said students from public secondary-level institutions did well even while still reeling from the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Whether you look at CSEC or CAPE, we’re seeing better results relative to last year, which we applaud. We know that these students lived through the pandemic. They were in the virtual world quite a bit. They are the students of resilience and we want to honour them for their diligence, for the work that they put in to be at this point in their educational journey,” she said.

According to data from the ministry on the CSEC results, 35,531 students from public schools were registered to sit the exam, of which 33,664 (94.7 per cent) sat and 28,312 (84.1 per cent) passed at least one subject at grades one to three.

It said that of the 34 subjects sat, 18 showed improved pass rates over 2022. Most notable were mathematics which increased by 7.5 percentage points, English A by 7.3 percentage points, and theatre arts by 7.1 percentage points.

The ministry said the results also show that males achieved higher percentage passes than females in two subjects — additional mathematics and music.

In addition, nine subjects had average pass rates of over 80 per cent. Mathematics and English Language recorded percentage passes of 44.7 per cent and 77.2 per cent, respectively. When the average attainment rates were compared with the 2022 results, there was a 7.5 percentage point increase in mathematics and a 7.3 percentage point increase in English Language.

For the science-related subjects, percentage pass rates ranged from 50.9 to 70.4 per cent.

In terms of CAPE, ministry data noted that public secondary-level schools accounted for 46,908 (90.4 per cent) of the total subject entries for Units 1 and 2, representing a 5.2 percentage increase over 2022.

It said that of the total subject entries, 44,257 (94.3 per cent) were sat, with an average pass rate of 90.6 per cent. Unit 1 had a total of 32,772 subject entries, of which 30,803 (94.6 per cent) were sat with a pass rate of 90.1 per cent. Of the 14,136 subject entries for Unit 2, a total of 13,454 (95.2 per cent) were sat with a pass rate of 91.8 per cent.

It said that of special note is that in CAPE Unit 1, pure mathematics had a 30.3 per cent increase in passes this year over 2022, applied mathematics recorded a 27. 2 per cent increase in 2023 over last year, while agricultural science had an 11.1 per cent increase this year over last year. Thirteen other subjects had higher pass rates this year over 2022.

Regarding City and Guilds exams, Williams said she was particularly pleased with the performance of students who are in the Sixth Form Pathway Programme.

“We want to note, the students who are in Sixth Form Pathway Programme who sat mathematics — 2,512 of them — these are the students who would have otherwise graduated from grade 11, but they chose to go on to grade 12. And here we are today with many more of them with mathematics in their personal portfolio and that’s something we should celebrate as well,” she said.

Williams noted however that overall, while there were high passes in English, “we still have some work to do in terms of mathematics”.

For the 2023 sitting, a total of 32,532 candidates registered for the exam. Of that number, 34, 294 sat maths and English.

The City and Guilds exams are offered at three stages, with stage three recognised as the acceptable matriculation for post-secondary programmes in Jamaica.