The Ministry of Education and Youth has announced marked improvement in the results of the Grade 5 Primary Exit Profile (PEP5) 2024 examinations taken by 33,800 students in the areas of Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts.

Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams said, “The PEP was designed, as the name suggests, to create a profile for each student that provides key insight to development and learning. The performance of students has improved significantly when compared to this cohort’s 2023 results in PEP4, as is evidenced in Language Arts and Mathematics.”

Students’ Performance

● In Language Arts, approximately 68% of students (23,577) achieved proficiency or higher, a substantial increase from 48% who sat PEP4 in 2023.
● In Mathematics, 47% of students (15,721) achieved proficiency or higher, a notable rise from the 25% proficiency rate in 2023 for those who sat PEP4.
● In Science, 46% of students (15,657) scored at or above the proficient level.
● In Social Studies, 47% of students (15,752) achieved proficiency or higher.

The ministry said it is pleased with the reduction in the percentage of students functioning at the “Beginning” level in all subject areas. This includes the percentage of students at the “Beginning” level in Mathematics decreasing from 44% in 2023 to 25% in 2024.

Support and special accommodations

The Ministry provided special accommodations to 383 students. This varied from extra time, to assistance from prompters or scribes, to preferential seating and linguistic aides for students whose first language is not English. The PEP5 exams were also administered to five students who were hospitalized.

Williams said: “We congratulate you for your perseverance and hard work. I remember there were heavy rains in parts of the island on June 5 and June 6 this year as you sat your exams. Yet, you all rose to the occasion and gave it your best. We are here to support you so that you can continue on this upward trajectory for PEP6 in 2025. I am looking forward to tracking the increases across all 4 subject areas next year.”

Williams also commended the educators and parents for their collaborative efforts that have helped to improve the PEP5 results.

The Ministry of Education and Youth said it remains focused on transforming education for national development and will continue to support schools and stakeholders through the provision of necessary resources to ensure students’ academic excellence.