The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has announced a sweeping overhaul of its School-Based Assessment (SBA) programme, introducing a new framework designed to protect the integrity of regional examinations amid the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence.
The changes will affect both the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) programmes, with implementation beginning in the 2027 academic year. The reforms follow extensive consultations with stakeholders across 21 Caribbean countries and territories.
CXC Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Wayne Wesley emphasised that the Council is not opposed to students using generative AI as a learning tool. The changes, he said, are about preserving public confidence in the assessment process.
"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," Dr. Wesley said. "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."
Under the new framework, SBAs will continue for subjects that depend heavily on practical or project-based work, where hands-on demonstration is considered essential to measuring student ability. These subjects include Agricultural Science, Visual Arts, Music, Physical Education, Technical Drawing, and Food, Nutrition and Health. CXC also confirmed that moderation of these assessments will be strengthened.
For theory-based subjects, however, the traditional SBA will be gradually phased out. Affected subjects include Mathematics, English, Caribbean History, Social Studies, Principles of Business, and Information Technology. Students in these subjects will instead sit Paper 032, which currently serves as an alternative assessment pathway.
The revised Paper 032 will retain elements of extended learning while being completed under examination conditions. Students will receive their assessment topics approximately one month before the examination, be allotted additional time to complete the work, and be permitted to bring reference notes into the examination room.
CXC Director of Operations Dr. Nicole Manning said the redesigned assessment strikes a balance between meaningful learning and greater assurance of authenticity.
"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," Dr. Manning said.
She urged students, parents, and teachers to continue upholding the value of CXC qualifications. "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 education."
The implementation timetable differs between the two programmes. For CAPE candidates in non-practical subjects, Paper 032 will replace the traditional SBA beginning with the May-June 2027 examination session. At the CSEC level, schools will have a transitional year in 2027 during which they may choose between the traditional SBA and Paper 032. From the May-June 2028 examinations onward, all CSEC candidates in non-practical subjects will be required to sit Paper 032.
CXC confirmed that existing SBA marks will remain transferable under its current two-year policy. Beginning in 2027, Paper 032 scores will also qualify for transfer under the same two-year rule.
