This year’s CXC results show T&T’s strongest performance for CAPE in three years, as well as progress in key areas for CSEC.
The Education Ministry says in 2026, 96.3% of written CAPE subject entries attained Grades I – V, compared with 95.72% in 2025 and 95.47% in 2024.
The proportion attaining Grades I – III also increased to 75.64% in 2026, compared with 72.72% in 2025 and 72.82% in 2024.
With regard to students attempting five or more CSEC subjects, 60.68% attained five or more passes in 2026, compared with 58.54% in 2024.
Additionally, 49.21% attained five or more subjects, including Mathematics and English A, compared with 46.5% in 2024.
The Ministry says while both these indicators were below the 2025 peak, pass rates in 2026 were higher than in 2024 in 22 of 33 comparable subjects nationally.
Meanwhile, the number of students achieving Grade I passes in at least eight subjects rose to 528 in 2026, compared with 457 in 2025.
Another positive was a decline in absenteeism for exams.
For CSEC, the full-candidate absence rate fell from 17.84% in 2024 to 13.86% in 2026, while subject-entry absenteeism declined from 11.79% to 9.5%.
At the CAPE level, the full-candidate absence rate was 2.9% in 2026, while subject-entry absenteeism was 3.17%, both of which the Ministry says were below 2024 levels.
Meanwhile, with regard to the Secondary Entrance Assessment Exam, the Ministry says national mean scores improved in all three assessed areas.
Mathematics increased from 52.10 in 2025 to 53.84 in 2026; English Language increased from 66.70 to 68.66, and English Language Arts Writing increased from 11.35 out of 20 to 11.57.
The proportion of students scoring above the 50% benchmark increased from 66.18% in 2025 to 70.73% in 2026.
Also, among the corrected total of 187 priority primary schools, the Ministry says 140 improved the proportion of students scoring above 50%.
The number of students scoring above 90% also increased, from 2.36% in 2025, to 3,9% in 2026.
The Ministry says it will recognize the Top 300 performers in both SEA and CSEC this year.
