The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG


Tribune Staff Reporter


ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

ONLY about one in three candidates who sat five or more BGCSE subjects this year earned at least five C grades or better, even as the overall A-D pass rate edged up to 71.49 percent, according to results education officials disclosed yesterday.

The 2026 results showed modest improvement across several measures, but Education Director Dominique McCartney-Russell said the gains were driven mainly by more C and D grades while the proportion of A and B grades declined.

Of the 6,169 candidates registered for the BGCSE examinations, 2,002 sat five or more subjects. Of those, 649 — about 32.4 percent — earned at least five grades of C or above, compared with 627 candidates last year.

Another 987 candidates, or 49.3 percent of those sitting five or more subjects, achieved at least five A-D passes, up from 970 in 2025.

Only 360 candidates earned at least a C in Mathematics, English Language and a science subject, representing 5.83 percent of the overall BGCSE candidature.

Presenting the results at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mrs McCartney-Russell said 20,758 BGCSE grades were awarded this year, a 0.64 percent increase from 20,626 in 2025.

“The overall BGCSC pass rate increased from 70.13 percent in 2025 to 71.49 percent in 2026,” she said. “The A to C rate also increased slightly from 51.13 percent to 51.61 percent.”

However, she said the improvement was concentrated in the lower passing grades.

“The improvement in the overall pass rate was driven principally by increases at grades C and D,” Mrs McCartney-Russell said, “while the proportions of grades A and B declined.”

Several subjects recorded high A-D pass rates, led by Geography at 88.9 percent, French at 87.4 percent and Electrical Installation at 86.7 percent.

Art and Design A recorded 86.5 percent, Religious Studies 85.7 percent and Chemistry 82.7 percent.

English Language had an 81.6 percent pass rate, while Commerce, Spanish and History were around 80 percent. Physics recorded 76.7 percent and Combined Science 76.2 percent.

Female candidates continued to outperform males.

The female A-D pass rate was about 73.55 percent, compared with 68.46 percent for males.

Females improved at grades A, C and D compared with 2025, while males improved at C and D but declined at A and B.

The ungraded rate was 3.15 percent for females and 4.6 percent for males.

The Bahamas Junior Certificate examinations also recorded an increase in the overall pass rate, although fewer candidates who sat five or more subjects attained at least five C grades or better than last year.

A total of 10,449 candidates from 120 centres registered for the BJC examinations, down slightly from 10,477 candidates at 123 centres in 2025.

Of this year’s candidates, 3,904 sat five or more subjects and 1,405, or about 36 percent, earned at least five grades of C or above.

Last year, 1,316 of the 3,392 candidates who sat five or more subjects — 38.8 percent — reached that benchmark.

This year, 1,950 candidates, or about 49.9 percent of those sitting five or more subjects, achieved at least five A-D passes. Last year, 1,788, or 52.7 percent, did so.

The overall BJC A-D pass rate nevertheless rose from 64.54 percent to 65.76 percent, while the proportion of grades A-C increased from 47.63 percent to 49.04 percent.

Grade A results rose from 10.19 percent to 11.32 percent and Grade B results increased from 16.41 percent to 16.99 percent.

A total of 1,241 candidates earned at least a C in Mathematics, English Language and a science subject, representing 11.88 percent of the overall BJC candidature. In 2025, 1,251 candidates met that benchmark.

Art and Design recorded the highest BJC A-D pass rate at 97.4 percent, followed by Craft Study at 97.2 percent and Family and Consumer Science at 95.9 percent.

Eleven of the 13 BJC subjects improved their grade point averages compared with 2025, with English Language and Religious Studies the only subjects to decline.

Mathematics recorded a 55.6 percent pass rate, with the number of A-D passes increasing by 5.8 percent.

“General science recorded a 56.4 percent pass rate,” Mrs McCartney-Russell said, “and improved its number of A-D passes by 9.7 percent.”

She said English Language recorded a 62.8 percent pass rate but saw the number of A-D passes decline by 13.7 percent.

“English language recorded a significant increase in grade A,” she said. “However, decreases at grades B through D contributed to an overall decline in performance.”

Female candidates also outperformed males at BJC level, recording an overall pass rate of 68.4 percent compared with 62.65 percent for males.

The Ministry of Education cautioned that the annual results provide only a snapshot of performance because some candidates spread their subjects across several sittings.

Officials said the figures therefore should not be treated as a complete measure of students’ cumulative achievement.