KINGTSON, Jamaica—The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has announced reforms to its School-Based Assessment (SBA) framework, which it said aims to strengthen assessment integrity across Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, in response to the rapid rise of Generative AI and other technological innovations.

CXC Registrar and CEO, Dr Wayne Wesley in a press release on Thursday, pointed out that the move is not intended to resist the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the learning process, but rather to safeguard the integrity of the assessment process as learners and the regional education system continues to adjust to the scale of the impact of AI on Caribbean education.

“CXC will always act in the best interest of the region, even when that requires difficult decisions. The SBA has served Caribbean students well for nearly half a century, and we do not reform it lightly”, said Dr Wesley.

“But the integrity of our qualifications is not negotiable. When the system that was designed to assess a student’s work can no longer reliably do so, we have an obligation to act, and to act decisively. That is precisely what this reformed framework represents. CXC is clear-eyed about the challenges of our time, and we are resolute in our commitment to the standard that Caribbean families, educators, and employers have come to trust,” said the CXC registrar.

According to CXC, the reforms and its school-based assessment follow extensive stakeholder consultations across 21 Caribbean states and territories and are scheduled to take effect in the 2027 academic year. It said for subjects that are genuinely practical in nature, where hands-on, project-based assessment captures competencies that a traditional examination room cannot, such as agricultural science, visual arts, music, physical education, technical drawing, and food nutrition and health, the SBA will be retained and its moderation strengthened.

For non-practical based subjects, including mathematics, English, caribbean history, social studies, principles of business, and information technology, the traditional SBA will be phased out. In its place, candidates will be required to sit Paper 032, the existing alternative assessment, under examination conditions but with three significant adjustments designed to preserve reflective, extended learning:

● Candidates will receive their examination topics approximately one month in advance;

●Additional time will be allocated for the completion of the assessment; and,

●Candidates will be permitted to bring reference notes into the examination room.

In a video statement released on Thursday, CXC’s Director of Operations, Dr Nicole Manning, said the new, deliberate and necessary design of the SBA, preserves the spirit of extended, reflective assessment while restoring CXC’s confidence in authorship and authenticity.

She called on students, parents and teachers across the region to hold to the high standard of the CXC qualification, which must always reflect what the student knows and can do.

“A CXC® qualification means something. It means something to employers, to universities, to parents, families and guardians, who have invested years of commitment and sacrifice into a child’s or education”, said Dr Manning. “It is in our collective interest that we hold to this standard, which we have all worked so hard to build.”, she maintained.

Dr Manning also announced an implementation timeline for the SBA reforms. For non-practical subjects candidates sitting CAPE will transition to paper 032 effective May–June 2027.

In 2027, CSEC candidates may sit either the SBA or paper 032, whichever of these options their school chooses. However, there will be a full transition to the use of paper 032 effective May-June 2028.

Existing SBA scores remain transferable under the established two-year rule and as of 2027, paper 032 scores will also be transferable under this two-year rule.