Mathematics continues to be a major stumbling block for Caribbean students, with a regional average of 42 per cent of candidates receiving acceptable grades in the subject during the May/June sitting of the 2026 CSEC examinations. The figures were disclosed on Tuesday, August 18, during the Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) Ceremony for the Release of Grades, held in Anguilla, where the regional examination body outlined both the gains and persistent weaknesses emerging from this year’s results.
While the Mathematics figure represents a five-percentage-point increase over 2025, CXC Director of Operations Dr. Nicole Manning described the continued performance as requiring further intervention.
The results show considerable variation across the region. Fourteen territories recorded between 43 and 77 per cent of their candidates attaining acceptable grades in Mathematics, while seven territories recorded between 30 and 38 per cent of their students doing so, falling quite below the regional average.
The longstanding challenge in Mathematics amongst other subjects is behind CXC’s introduction of the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC), an initiative designed to provide students with an easier pathway to certification.
Dr. Wayne Wesley, CEO and Registrar of CXC, said that the organization had announced the piloting of the initiative approximately 16 months ago in response to the “perennial underperformance of our students in certain subjects,” particularly Mathematics.
The CTEC Mathematics pilot was conducted during the May/June 2026 examination period across 42 centres in 15 territories. A total of 2,535 candidates sat Module One, with 88 per cent receiving acceptable grades. Only one candidate received the lowest attainable grade.
Wesley noted that “CTEC takes the subject you know, the same syllabus, the same rigorous standard and breaks them down into focused modules that students can master and be assessed on and be certified for step by step.”
The programme essentially functions as a micro-credential, allowing candidates to accumulate individual module credentials which can eventually lead to a full CSEC certification.
Despite the worrying performance of students in Mathematics, the increase in regional average performance by students in the subject forms part of a broader picture of modest improvement at the CSEC level.
Overall, 72.18 per cent of CSEC candidates received acceptable grades in 2026, compared with 71.42 per cent in 2025.
At CAPE, 93.52 per cent of students regionally received acceptable grades. Information Technology Unit 2 recorded the highest rate of acceptable grades, at 99 per cent.
However, performance varied among individual subjects and territories. Possible areas of concern moving forward, in addition to CSEC Mathematics, may be the areas of CAPE Pure Mathematics Unit One, Accounting Unit Two and Chemistry Unit Two where some territories had less than forty percent of candidates attaining acceptable grades, well below the regional mean.
Manning also highlighted absenteeism as an ongoing concern. More than 3,500 absences were recorded at the CAPE level whilst, for CSEC, a total of 32,403 candidates did not sit their examinations. This was noted to be a significant issue given that noncompletion of any component of the assessment results in their them from attaining the qualification.
Manning further pointed to a growing gender disparity as students advance through the education system and called for further examination into the cause of the issue
In addition to the day’s results, Anguilla’s Minister of Social Development, Education, Youth & Culture, Library Services & Probation, Mrs. Shellya Rogers-Webster used the ceremony as an opportunity to announce the launching the National Generative Artificial Intelligence in Education Policy 2025–2030 in collaboration with CXC. Rogers-Webster noted that the “policy establishes a national framework for ethical, responsible, equitable and sustainable use of artificial intelligence across every level of education.”
This development amongst others like CXC’s guidelines for AI use for examinations highlights the changing demands being placed on the region’s education systems, as schools and policymakers grapple with both persistent emerging technologies.
For CXC, however, the immediate challenge remains one that has confronted Caribbean educators for years: getting more students to successfully master Mathematics.
The modest improvement in Mathematics is encouraging, but with fewer than half of candidates achieving acceptable grades and CTEC still green in its implementation, the latest results suggest the region is not yet ready to declare victory.