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Decline in CAPE Entries Raises Questions About University Matriculation
The number of students in Antigua and Barbuda sitting the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) has fallen sharply, despite a strong overall pass rate.
Just 297 candidates registered for CAPE in 2025, compared with 553 in 2019. The pass rate stood at 86.4%, but education officials say the decline reflects changing pathways into higher education.
Dr Myrick Smith, the local CXC registrar, noted that many students now gain direct entry into the University of the West Indies (UWI) without needing CAPE subjects, reducing the incentive to remain in school for an additional two years.
While this option has widened access, the trend has sparked debate about whether students may be missing out on the deeper preparation that CAPE provides before tertiary study.
“CAPE gives students two years of advanced study, similar to A-levels, which can strengthen readiness for university,” Dr Smith said. He suggested the issue was “worthy of discussion” at the policy level.
The Ministry of Education is expected to review the results as part of its wider analysis of academic performance, amid concerns that the long-term decline could weaken the academic foundation of future undergraduates.
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To have an honest conversation on this, we must address all issues, real and perceived. I believe one of the issues here is because there is a lot of perception of favoritism in the Management at State College. They have this backward policy in place where they keep inventing artificially-difficult reasons for students NOT to enter programs they want to enter, by putting hurdles in place (like the need for a pass in CXC maths for student with 7-10 other CXC subjects) for all kind of areas where it is not needed to matriculate into University. So State College making access to education more difficult, while Universities to include UWI are more accommodating, practical and uses common sense when allowing their students to matriculate.
Any student with 7 plus CXC subjects should be allowed to enter State College and purse their subjects (with the provision they still sign up to do their CXC Maths). At the end of the day, they have to pass the subjects they paid to do at State College if they want to advance, and that is what matters, not all them artificial barriers to education.
The Senior Administrators at State College (ABCAS) should be creative to find COMMON-SENSE ways to work-with and encourage students to enter higher education, instead of using the 1990s barriers to keep them from pursuing the courses they desire to study. Especially since Universities here and online are facilitating students higher education in a common-sense way for the times we are in.
you sound like a BITTER “INSIDER”
@The Administrators at State College are to blame
So you’re saying the standard to get into State College, the sixth form college, is too high, so they will accept the lower standard at the UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES FIVE ISLAND CAMPUS?
@ No Surprise
… hence the reason the application of COMMON SENSE was stated. The CSEC show only 19.5% of students pass 5 subjects with both English and Maths. So are you suggesting a student with7, 8, 9 or more CSEC subjects without Maths should not be able to attend State College and study a business or accounting discipline?
That is where the application of common sense rules comes in. The goal should be to make education more accessible, by simply applying common-sense rules.
Good! Wonderful! Brilliant news that students no longer have to waste their time at that dreary place.
When I was there, you had to do History to do Law, whereas at UWI, you only need good grades to enter the law programme.
If you did a Social Science like Management of Business, you couldn’t do a course in another field like Literature.
As @ Administrators at State College are to blame is right! The place has looked tired, rundown and has been an absolute drag to attend but they make it out to be that it’s a big thing by implementing all those damn restrictions.
People wind up getting CAPE subjects and still working basic, entry level jobs.
There are people who matriculated into US higher ranking universities WITHOUT CAPE.
Let’s just shut the place down. It serves NO real purpose than to keep people employed.
Maths has always been tricky, but maybe it’s time the schools invest in more support for applied and integrated maths.
It’s worrying to see CAPE participation dropping so much. I wonder if students really understand the long-term impact of skipping these exams.