Passing Rate Climbs, but Core Subjects Take a Hit

NASSAU , BAHAMAS –

Dominique McCartney-Russell – Director of Education

“Performance in the core and heavily subscribed subjects remains an important area for attention.”

The numbers may show a slight overall improvement, but the Ministry of Education says there are still areas that cannot be ignored.

Education Director Dominique Russell said that the core subjects remain the ministry’s number one priority, as passing performance in some of those areas continues to decline.

And that concern is reflected in this year’s national examination results.

Just over ten thousand students registered for the BJC examinations in 2025.

Of those students, 10.19 percent earned an A, while 16.41 percent received a B.

Nearly 38 percent fell within the C-to-D range, while another 38 percent failed, receiving grades ranging from E to U.

This year, the number of registered students was slightly lower, at 10,449.

But the overall results improved.

A grades rose to more than 11 percent, B grades neared 17 percent, and the failure rate dropped to 34.24 percent.

Russell says 11 of the 13 BJC subjects saw an improvement in their grade point average.

But one of the core subjects was left behind.

Dominique McCartney-Russell – Director of Education

“English language and religious studies were the only subjects to record a decline in GPA. Mean grades improved in French, health, science, literature and technical drawing.”

And when you look at students taking five or more BJC subjects, 3,904 students fit that category this year.

Of that group, 1,950 earned passing grades across their subjects.

But the number of students meeting the ministry’s core-subject benchmark was much lower.

Just 1,040 students, or 11.88 percent of the overall BJC candidates, earned a C or better in mathematics, English and a science subject.

The BGCSE results tell a similar story.

Of the 6,103 students registered, the overall pass rate increased from just over 70 percent last year to 71.49 percent this year.

At the same time, the failure rate dropped from nearly 30 percent to 28.51 percent.

But again, the results look different when you focus on the core subjects.

Only 360 students earned passing grades in English, mathematics and a science subject.

That represents just 5.83 percent of the overall BGCSE candidates.

Russell, however, cautions against using these results as a complete measure of the country’s educational capability.

She says the results represent just one sitting and should therefore be viewed in that context.

Dominique McCartney-Russell – Director of Education

“These statistics should be interpreted within the context of candidates who distribute their subject load across multiple years. The annual figures provide a snapshot of performance in a single examination cycle and may not capture the complete cumulative achievement of candidates who have earned qualifications over more than one sitting.”

So what’s behind the struggle?

The ministry says it has looked into that question, particularly when it comes to mathematics.

Russell says the study found disengagement and other challenges among both students and teachers.

She says the ministry is now bringing in math officers to provide additional support in schools.

Math labs are also being introduced to give students more hands-on learning, while additional teacher training, particularly at the primary level, is also being considered.

So while the latest results show some progress overall, the ministry acknowledges there is still work to do.