11-Plus results: ‘Average performance’ amid gaps in maths application, English comprehension

A decline in English scores and continued difficulty applying mathematical skills have marked this year’s Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination – the 11-Plus – even as overall results remain broadly in line with recent years, Deputy Chief Education Officer Julia Beckles revealed on Monday.

Most students – 97.3 per cent – were successfully allocated to public secondary schools by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), she said, an increase from the 95.1 per cent allocated through the standard process last year. The remaining 75 candidates, accounting for 2.7 per cent of the cohort, were allocated to secondary institutions directly by the Ministry of Education Transformation.

Reviewing the Mathematics paper, Beckles said student scores ranged from zero to a maximum of 100 per cent. The national mean for Mathematics stood at 58.04, reflecting a marginal decline of 2.16 percentage points when compared to the 60.2 per cent recorded in 2025.

Despite this slight dip, the Deputy Chief Education Officer noted that the 2026 average represents a 3.4-point increase over the 2024 performance, though it remains 1.16 points lower than the 2023 average.

“The analysis reveals that there has been no significant difference in the performance of the students this year when compared to previous years,” Beckles said. “Students continue to demonstrate average knowledge of basic mathematical concepts. However, several students continue to experience extreme difficulty in applying knowledge and skills to new situations.”

The data also highlighted an ongoing gender disparity in numeracy. Six students — four males and two females — recorded a score of zero this year, compared to two females in 2025, five students in 2024, and four students in 2023.

On the other hand, 23 students achieved a perfect score of 100 per cent, comprising 10 females and 13 males. This is a slight decrease from the 24 students who gained full marks in 2025.

“Females continue to perform above the national mean on each section of the paper and exhibit a higher level of understanding of mathematical concepts than their male counterparts,” Beckles noted, adding that “males continue to perform below the national mean in every section of the paper”.

Performance in the English Language paper showed a more noticeable decline. Scores on the English paper ranged from zero to 99, with no student achieving full marks this year. The overall national mean dropped to 64.2, compared to 72.5 in 2025, 65.2 in 2024, and 66.3 in 2023. This represents an 8.3 per cent decrease in performance over 2025 and a minor one-point decrease compared to 2024.

According to Beckles, general student competency in grammar, vocabulary and comprehension was rated as average. But, the ministry remains concerned about deeper structural literacy deficiencies.

“Significant deficits persist in English language usage and expository text comprehension among the student population,” she said. Similar to the trends seen in Mathematics, female students achieved higher scores than male students across all sections of the English paper, whilst male performance consistently fell below the national mean.

In response to these findings, the Deputy Chief Education Officer Beckles reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening the primary education foundation through targeted resource allocation and specialised support programmes.

“The Ministry of Education will continue to provide the resources to strengthen these and other foundational areas in keeping with our vision to build a firm education system,” she said.

Among the main interventions is the National Literacy Programme, which has already provided support to 6 421 children across the island. The ministry is set to expand this outreach in July through its ‘summer pods’ initiative, which will deliver targeted learner support to 50 students between the ages of 11 and 13.

Further support is expected at the start of the upcoming academic year.

“We will also provide support through our National Mathematics Programme when it is finalised,” Beckles announced. “And I wish to add here that we look forward to welcoming 10 literacy coaches in September 2026 to help us with our literacy programme.”

(RR)

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