Student performance improved this year in under half of the 27 Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exam categories compared to 2014, but students continued to average D’s and E’s, respectively in English language and Mathematics, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Education.

Subjects with a letter grade improvement included Art and Design A, B and C; Biology; Carpentry and Joinery; Clothing Construction; Combined Science; Economics; Electrical Installation; French; Geography; and History.

In five subjects – Art and Design B, Clothing Construction, Combined Science, Economics, and History – student performance increased by a grade. However, the increased performance in the remaining seven subjects was marginal. The results show that student performance declined in six of the 27 BGCSE exam categories. These included Accounts, Commerce, Literature, Music, Office Procedures and Physics.

Meanwhile, student performance remained the same in nine subjects. These were Mathematics, English Language, Auto Mechanics, Chemistry, Food and Nutrition, Graphical Communication, Religious Studies, Spanish and Typewriting. The average grade for Mathematics was an ‘E’ in 2014 and 2013.

In 2013, the average grade for English Literature was a ‘D’. This improved to a ‘D+’ in 2014. There was improved performance (grade point average) in 19 subjects, including English Literature, and a decline in performance in nine subjects, including Mathematics.

According to Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald, who addressed the media at a press conference at the Ministry of Education yesterday, 1,534 students obtained a minimum grade of ‘D’ in at least five subjects. He said this represents a less than one percent decrease from the 1,545 students who achieved this in 2014. One-thousand, six hundred and twenty six students obtained a ‘D’ grade in at least five subjects in 2013; 1,594 in 2012 and 1,554 in 2011.

Fitzgerald said 570 of the 6,521 candidates achieved a grade ‘C’ or better in Mathematics, English Language and a science. This represents a decrease from the 588 candidates (3.06 percent) who achieved this in 2014. This figure has steadily increased since 2009, but has fluctuated in recent years. Fitzgerald said 50.49 percent of the 24,875 grades issued were ‘A-C’. He said this represents an increase of 2.57 percent over the 47.92 percent of ‘A-C’ grades awarded in the previous year.

This year, 22.11 percent of the grades awarded were ‘D’, compared to the 22.07 percent in 2014. The results show that a lower percentage of grades ‘E-G’ were issued, but a higher percentage of ‘U’ grades were given. Approximately 24.03 percent of grades awarded were ‘E-G’, compared to 27.09 percent in 2014.

The ministry yesterday only released portions of the 2014 BGCSE and Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) exam results.

“It goes without saying, that although improvement has been made in certain areas, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to catch those students who continue to fall between the cracks,” the minister said.

“We at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are more committed than ever to doing the work that is necessary to equip our students with the tools and basic education that they need for them to go out and make a positive contribution to our country and the world at large.

“We are pleased to have seen improvement year over year, although we acknowledge that more can and needs to be done.”

According to Fitzgerald, 6,521 candidates registered to sit the BGCSE exams, a decrease compared to the 6,789 candidates registered in 2014.

Regarding the BJCs, approximately 10,570 candidates registered to sit the exams. Fitzgerald said the average for five subjects of the 11 BJC subjects improved when compared to 2014. These subjects included: Health Science, Art, Family and Consumer Science, and General Science. Results declined in English Language, Mathematics, Religious Studies, Social Studies and Technical Drawing.