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CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

MEETING OF THE SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS COMMITTEE (SEC)
DECEMBER 2017 MEETING

SEC (11C) 2017
CXC (1.15C) 2017

ESTIMATES OF ENTRIES FOR THE
2018 CSEC® SITTINGS

JANUARY SITTING

Subject Entry `
1. As at 08 November 2017, subject entries for the January 2018 CSEC® sitting were received
from all 16 Participating Territories and from the Non-Participating Territories of Saba, Suriname and
St Maarten.

2. The downward slide in the subject entries over recent years came to a halt at the January 2018
sitting where entries of 40,207 were recorded. This figure represents a 16 per cent increase over the
January 2017 figure of 34,570. The January 2018 entries are slightly above those recorded at the
January 2016 sitting of 40,090. The single sciences performed particularly well where increases
between 42 and 68 per cent were recorded. The mature subjects also performed well with English A
increasing by 18 per cent and Mathematics by 17 per cent. Two subjects, Information Technology (1
per cent) and Office Administration (2 per cent), suffered decreased entries.

Candidate Entry

3. Candidate entries at the January 2018 sitting showed a positive sign moving upward by 20.4
per cent over the previous year. 19,953 candidates have been registered for the January 2018 sitting
compared to 16,568 at the January 2017 sitting. The main contributors to the increase of entries
came from Jamaica (32,885 in 2017 to 4,533 in 2018) and Barbados (1,058 in 2017 to 2,000 in
2018). Trinidad and Tobago accounted for 55 per cent of the total candidate population; this
is down from the 61 per cent at the January 2017 sitting.

MAY-JUNE SITTING

Subject Entry
4. The estimate of entries for the May-June 2018 CSEC® sitting has been predicted at 572,000
which is 0.82 per cent below the 2017 figure of 576,742. The projection is consistent with the
downward trend in entries that has occurred over the past few years. Additional Mathematics and
Physical Education and Sport are expected to increase by about 7 per cent whereas entries are
predicted to fall for Agricultural Science DA (15 per cent), English A (3 per cent) and Mathematics (1
per cent).

Candidate Entry

5. The application of the 2017 ratio of approximately 4.45 subjects per candidate to the total
subject entry gives an estimated candidate entry of 128,541 which is just below the 2017 figure of
129,558.