For the 2025–2026 academic cycle, Grenada’s Ministry of Education, through its Educational Testing and Examinations Unit, has successfully concluded all components of the annual Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA), releasing full results alongside universal secondary school placements aligned with the government’s flagship education policy.
First introduced across the Caribbean in 2012 to replace the older National Common Entrance Examination, the CPEA was developed by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) in partnership with regional education ministries to evaluate core skills of graduating primary school students, combining continuous assessment across Grades 5 and 6 with a standardized final external examination. This year’s assessment opened with internal assessment components in September 2025, and wrapped up with the external written papers on May 13 and 14, 2026. Eligibility was extended to all students who turned 11 years of age on or before September 1, 2025, and under the Universal Secondary Education Policy reinstated by the Ministry of Education in 2023, every student completing the CPEA is guaranteed a spot in secondary education.
A total of 1,711 students (876 male, 835 female) registered for the 2026 CPEA, with all registered candidates completing the mandatory internal assessment component. The external assessment was completed by 1,709 students – 876 male and 833 female – all of whom have now been assigned to secondary schools for the 2026–2027 academic year. The CPEA weights the internal assessment (which includes class projects, book reports, writing portfolios, teacher-evaluated skills practice, and unit tests) at 40% of a student’s total score, while the external 50-question multiple-choice examination covering four core subjects accounts for the remaining 60%.
Overall, 1,601 of the 1,709 students who completed the full assessment scored 50% or higher to pass the examination, split evenly between 802 male and 799 female students. Just 108 students, or 7% of all test-takers, scored below the 50% pass mark, with 74 male and 34 female students in this group.
Breaking down performance by assessment component, the external examination saw 1,293 students (619 male, 674 female) score 50% or higher, while 416 students scored below the pass threshold. Subject-level analysis of external assessment national mean scores shows broad improvement across most core subjects from 2025 to 2026. Language Arts posted the most significant gain, rising from a national mean of 60.34 in 2025 to 64.13 this year, taking the top spot for performance improvement. Social Studies also recorded steady growth, climbing from 62.61 to 64.27 to maintain consistent strong results, while Science saw a minor uptick from 63.06 to 64.29, holding steady relative to previous years. The only major outlier was Mathematics, which saw the national mean drop sharply from 55.16 in 2025 to 52.58 in 2026, marking the largest single-year decline across all subjects and signaling a clear need for targeted curriculum and instruction support in this area.
For the internal assessment, which all 1,711 registered candidates completed, 1,673 students scored 50% or higher (844 male, 829 female), with just 38 students falling below the pass mark. Subject performance mirrored the external assessment trends: Language Arts posted the highest national mean at 83.37, followed closely by Social Studies at 83.13 and Science at 82.56. Once again, Mathematics recorded the sharpest year-over-year decline, dropping from 82.86 in 2025 to 80.70 in 2026, reinforcing the need for focused intervention in mathematics instruction across Grenada’s primary schools.
All 1,709 students who completed the external assessment have been assigned to secondary schools across the country, with gender distribution varying by institution. Single-gender schools include Grenada Boy’s Secondary School (167 male placements), Presentation Brothers College (70 male placements), Anglican High School (105 female placements), St Joseph’s Convent Grenville (99 female placements), and St Joseph’s Convent St George’s (100 female placements). St Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School recorded the largest total placement with 135 students, followed by Grenada Boy’s Secondary School with 167 and Happy Hill Secondary School with 98. Individual primary schools will receive customized placement lists for their Grade 6 graduates in the coming days.
For families seeking reassignment to a different secondary school than the one initially assigned, the Ministry of Education has outlined strict eligibility and procedural rules. Reassignment requests will only be approved if the requested school has available space, adhering to the mandated 1:35 teacher-to-pupil ratio, following a vacated spot from another student, or if a student has a documented medical or psychological need that requires a transfer, or the family has moved residence closer to the requested school (with official proof required).
All reassignment requests must be submitted electronically via a link that will be published at a later date; the Ministry will not accept hard copy requests, and families without access to digital tools can contact the official help desk at (473) 440-2737 for assistance. Requests go through a multi-step review process: first evaluated by a school-level transfer committee, which submits recommendations to the Office of the Chief Education Officer no later than two weeks after results are released – late submissions will not be accepted. Recommendations are then collated by the Ministry’s Planning Unit before being reviewed by a central CPEA Oversight Committee, which makes final approval decisions. All applicants will receive written notification of the outcome, and no transfers will be approved to schools that have already reached their maximum capacity.
