Increase in CAPE averages, but less students sitting exams

Juan Vargas

In the CAPE exams, there was an overall increase in grades of four point eleven percent when compared to 2010 and the top student will receive the prestigious Belize Scholarship. But according to Vargas, while many of the subject grades are up, there was significant decrease in the number of students sitting the exams this year.

Juan Vargas, CXC Local Registrar

“Here the figures are quite amazing in terms of the entries; subject entries and candidate entries. In terms of the candidate entries, we had a decrease in the number of students who were sitting the examination, a decrease of twenty-four point seven percent. And the subject entries had a decrease of twenty point six percent. At the acceptable level, which is—at the CAPE level—students acceptable grade level is one to five. We note that there are several subjects where we obtained hundred percent acceptable grades of one to five. subjects such as applied mathematics unit one, applied mathematics unit two, computer science unit one, economics unit two, environmental science unit one and history unit two. In English Unit one and two, management of business unit one and two and physics unit one and two so that means that the students who sat this subjects, they obtained grades within the acceptable range of one to five.”

According to Vargas, the decrease in CAPE candidates can be attributed to entry costs as well as the newly introduced subjects.