Please click here to view the top candidates in the 2023 Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination
Scott Johnson of Charles F. Broome Primary and Anaya Sealy of People’s Cathedral School are the overall top performers in the 2023 Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination (BSSEE).
Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Kay McConney, made the announcement during a press conference at her Ministry to report on the examination.
Johnson, who scored 100 in Mathematics, 96 in English and an A in the essay will be heading to Harrison College at the start of the new academic year, while Sealy will be attending Queen’s College. She scored 99 in both English and Math and an “A”.
Delivering her report on the exam, Minister McConney highlighted the performance of students in the Mathematics paper, revealing that 35 of them (15 males and 20 females) scored full marks in that subject.
“This was a vast improvement over only two students in 2022, and a slight decline from 37 in 2021. The national mean score for mathematics is 59.2. This represents a marginal increase from 57.5 in 2022, and a small increase over the 55.6 in 2021. This all represents a continued increase in both male and female performances in mathematics over the last three years, this is certainly encouraging,” the Minister said.
As it relates to the English paper, only one student, a female, gained 100 per cent in that subject. However, Ms. McConney noted that there was no significant difference in national average for the subject over the past year. The overall national mean in English for 2023 is 69.5 as compared to 69.7 in 2022, and 66.3 in 2021.
The Education Minister also explained the decision to delay the examination from the customary date in the first week of May to June 27. According to her, this aided in the preparation of students who were disadvantaged due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education system.
“The decision was made to delay this exam date because the Ministry believed that the additional eight weeks of face-to-face instruction would have made a significant difference in the preparation of the exam sitters, who had been severely impacted by the non-traditional online delivery method of instruction while they were in classes Two and Three. The results this year suggest that the decision to delay was a good one,” she stated.
In her closing remarks, Minister McConney encouraged students to give of their best, regardless of the school they will be attending in the new academic year.
“I wish to offer my congratulations to the top performers and to all students who wrote the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination in 2023. I want you all to remember that it is not about where you go, but what you do when you get there,” she stated.
A total of 3,170 students were registered to write the 2023 Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination. Of these, 18 (11 males and seven females) were early sitters, all of whom gained scores of 85 percent or more in the English and Mathematics papers.
Also noteworthy was the performance of a legally blind student who received 94 percent in Mathematics, 88 percent in English and a “B” in Composition.