Queens College tops CAPE

Having managed to produce some of the country’s top CSEC and CAPE performers over the years, Queen’s College Secondary School (QC) has once again secured another success as the institution managed to produce 11 of the country’s top 15 performers at the 2019 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

CAPE top performer,
Michael Bhopaul

This data was disseminated by the Education Ministry during the official release of the 2019 CAPE results at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) on Wednesday.
Pass CSEC and CAPE top performer, Michael Bhopaul of QC was named the top student for this year’s examination after securing Grade One passes in eight units, being in his second year. Bhopaul recorded passes in Communications Studies1, Integrated Mathematics1, Applied Mathematics2, Biology2, Chemistry2, French2, Pure Mathematics2 and Physics 2. The teen was named the second-highest CAPE performer for 2018 and the country’s top CSEC performer back in 2017.
In addition, Leonardo Gobin copped the second position with eight Grade One passes, followed by Diego Barnett securing third place with seven Grade Ones and two Grade Twos, along with Zane Ramotar, who came in fourth with seven Grade Ones, all of whom are students of QC. The country’s top CSEC performer for 2018, Christian Pile, was also among QC’s top students, securing the eleventh place with six Grade Ones and a Grade Two, followed by his classmate, Pretha Smith, who secured the twelfth position with six Grade One passes.

Examinations review
For the year 2019, a total of 880 candidates sat the CAPE examinations from a total of ten secondary schools and five private centres, while 923 candidates wrote the exam for the year 2018. Meanwhile, this year’s subject entries were documented to be 4223 while last year’s entries were at 4224, these figures, therefore, show a slight decline in the country’s candidate and subject entries as well as its pass rate. A .7 decline was experienced this year as the overall pass rates stood at 93 per cent whereas 93.68 per cent was attained last year. The gender distribution of the overall pass rate was documented to be 35 per cent males and 65 per cent females.
Furthermore, an increase was noted in the number of candidates securing Grades One and Two passes, as students obtained a 100 per cent pass rate in 31 units along with 75 per cent or more in another 30 units.
In 2019, integrated mathematics remained consistent with 83.35 per cent, while Caribbean studies and communication studies continue to record an over 95 per cent pass rate. Digital media and animation and gaming design were written electronically and also continues to record 100 per cent passes.
Four of the ten school centres recorded increases in their overall pas rates namely: Bishops’ High, Mackenzie High, New Amsterdam Secondary and St Joseph’s High. The Christiansburg Wismar Secondary offered four units at CAPE for the first time and gained a pass rate of 92 per cent.