KINGSTON, Jamaica — Students who were expecting to commence their final Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams next week are breathing a sigh of relief.

This follows an announcement by the CXC council that the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) have been postponed by three weeks.

The exams are now expected to commence on May 23.

The news brought joy to several students who were buckling under pressure with the upcoming exams.

Speaking with OBSERVER ONLINE on Wednesday, a student of St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) shared that, “I’m so relieved because I wasn’t fully prepared for CXC so this gives me more time to study and prepare myself.”

“I wasn’t focused at all because I was stressing to finish up my SBAs (Student Based Assessments) so I’m glad that I have a little more time to set up myself and finish up wah mi a finish up,” he added.

CXC also announced the extension of the submission of SBAs for CSEC and CAPE from June 30 by a further two weeks.

READ: CXC exams pushed back by three weeks

Likewise, a fifth form student of Bridgeport High School in St Catherine, said he was pleased with the announcement.

“It feels great have more time to study and finishing up some more SBA. I wasn’t prepared at all because I was focusing on finishing SBA’s and not studying,” he said.

For another STATHS student, the extended preparation time was much needed.

“It’s kinda good it push back by three weeks cause it gives more time to prepare. I was more prepared for some subjects than others and I was prepared to just do my best and let Jesus handle the rest,” the CSEC candidate said.

However, not all students were relieved with the announcement. For one Camperdown High School student, the news was disappointing.

“It affects me a lot because I planned to do many thing this summer and I was well prepared because every night I am up studying, late nights and I wish it could start next week,” he shared.

“Students already have their mind set to start on May 2. We’ve been studying from the year start. Now when students hear about this their mindset will change,” he said, adding that some of his friends were frustrated and confused about the changes.

The decision to push back CXC exams follows lobbying by regional Ministries of Education based on concerns that students were not prepared given academic struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The council has also agreed to provide the broad topics to be assessed on Paper 2 with the education ministries for distribution to all candidates.