THE Ministry of Education has reported that the 2026 Grade 6 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations were successfully implemented over the past two days — Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, April 30.

In a media release on Thursday the ministry said the smooth execution of the examinations underscores its commitment to resilience, equity, and student success, even in the aftermath of national disruption.

“We are extremely pleased that the 2026 PEP examinations were conducted successfully across the island. This achievement reflects the dedication and coordination of our ministry staff, school administrators, teachers, parents, and students, who remained focused despite the challenges brought on by Hurricane Melissa [last October].

“Our priority was to ensure that every child had a fair and supportive opportunity to perform at their best, and this successful sitting is a testament to that collective effort,” the released quoted Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, who said the successful staging of the examinations was based on the resilience of all stakeholders:

Now in its eighth year, PEP was administered to students born in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

This year’s sitting incorporated adjustments to curriculum coverage and examination structure following the significant impact of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 system that affected several parishes, particularly in western Jamaica.

In response to these challenges, the ministry decided to cancel the Performance Task assessments for the 2026 sitting.

According to the ministry, this approach was informed by extensive consultations with teachers, principals and parents across both public and private institutions and was aimed at ensuring fairness for all students while maintaining the integrity of the PEP placement model.

For this year the grade six students completed the curriculum-based tests, mathematics and language arts, ability test, and verbal and quantitative reasoning.

The language arts and mathematics examinations each comprised 60 multiple-choice items and were completed within one hour and 50 minutes.

This year also marked the first formal assessment of literacy and numeracy at Grade 6, with dedicated components embedded in both subject areas.

The ministry argued that this strengthened focus will provide critical insights into students’ literacy levels and readiness for secondary education, while enabling educators to track progress from grade 4 and evaluate the effectiveness of intervention strategies at the school level.

A total of 31,806 students were registered for the 2026 PEP examinations: 15,964 males and 15,842 females. This included 27,375 students from public schools while 4,431 students were from private institutions.

Of the total number of students registered, 615 were approved for special accommodations, including extra time, readers and writers, preferential seating, and assistive formats such as Braille and large print.

Additionally, 17 applications were approved for linguistic aides in French, Spanish and Mandarin.

Recognising the ongoing impact of Hurricane Melissa, the ministry also implemented a robust suite of measures to ensure that all students were able to sit the examinations in safe and supportive environments.

These included relocation to alternative examination centres; the use of temporary, weather-resistant structures where relocation was not feasible; transportation arrangements to facilitate safe access where required; and the deployment of rapid response teams to address any emergencies during the examination period.