In a formal circular dispatched to all secondary school and technical institute principals across the jurisdiction, the national Ministry of Education has rolled out a structured mandate requiring all educational institutions to submit a verified roster of students slated to sit the 2027 Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) suite of qualifications — including CSEC, CTEC, and CVQ programmes — to central government for full state coverage of their associated exam fees. This initiative fulfills a key campaign pledge the ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) unveiled ahead of the November 2025 general election, where the party promised to eliminate end-of-secondary-school examination costs for eligible students if re-elected to office. Under the official policy framework, the government will cover all standard CXC entry administrative fees and per-subject charges for every approved candidate, processed in full coordination with the local CXC Registrar’s office. A hard aggregate cap of nine funded subjects per student has been established, with the rule clarifying that this nine-subject limit functions as a maximum ceiling rather than a mandatory target. Education officials emphasized that schools must only register students for subjects for which they have received full targeted instruction, with eligibility confirmed via internal assessment performance data, completed school-based coursework, and verified progress on all practical SBA requirements. No educational institution is permitted to collect any fees from parents or legal guardians for exam entries that fall within this government-funded scope. Students who wish to register for additional subjects beyond the nine-subject threshold may do so, but all associated costs for these extra qualifications must be paid directly to the national treasury via the CXC Local Registrar, with these supplementary entries required to be clearly flagged in a separate section of the submission cover letter to avoid processing confusion. The policy explicitly excludes several categories of costs and candidates from state coverage: fees for CCSLC qualifications fall entirely to the student and their family, and all late entry surcharges or penalty fees stemming from delayed submissions or incorrect application details will not be reimbursed by public funds. Eligibility for the fully funded scheme is restricted exclusively to students who are actively enrolled and in regular attendance at a registered secondary school or technical institute at the time of official CXC registration. Candidates retaking a previously attempted subject, as well as all private, non-enrolled exam candidates, are not eligible for the government fee subsidy. Every submitted student entry roster will be cross-referenced and validated against the official institutional student attendance register, and the principal or institutional head is required to sign and date all submission documentation, issuing a formal legal certification that every listed candidate meets attendance requirements, their registered subjects align with their completed coursework and instructional progress, and no subsidized student has been assigned more than the nine allowed funded exam entries.
Gov’t explains how it will pay for students’ 2027 CXC subjects
