FACED with an unprecedented influx of over 21,000 review requests and over 3100 queries, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is yet to say when it will be releasing the official results of its 2020 examinations, and would only say that it is working assiduously to complete queries and review requests. The body received a total of 10,055 review requests for subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and 11,551 requests for reviews of subjects written at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The numbers represent a review of 1.8 percent of the results for CSEC and 9.67 percent of the results for CAPE. The review requests marks an over 1200 percent increase for CSEC and over 900 percent increase for CAPE of review requests, when compared to 2019. Additionally, the body received a total of 2,174 queries for CSEC and 945 queries for CAPE, both staggering numbers when compared with previous years.

CXC has been facing an unprecedented situation since it released the preliminary results for its 2020 examinations on September 22, with complaints of a high number of “ungraded” and unsatisfactory results. The complainants believe the situation arose from CXC issuing a modified version of their exams at the 2020 sitting. The announcement of the official results from the exams were expected following the closure of the period for queries and review requests, for which the deadline was November 6. Several students are anxious for the release of the results and reviews, as the results are vital to their university and college applications, and other career pursuits. Several students have also individually paid US$15 per subject to CXC to have their results reviewed privately. Some students have begun to receive responses for some of their review requests. In a statement released by the Council, on Monday, the body would only say that the review process is expected to be completed shortly, and pleaded for patience from stakeholders.

“We understand the psychosocial impact of the extended COVID-19 related circumstances and have heard the concerns of Ministry officials, teachers, parents and students. These concerns are being addressed with further consideration of the hardships that students and their parents may have been experiencing,” the statement said. The Council said that in addition to the review requests and queries received, it “has been reviewing single grade changes, as well as the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects”. According to the Council “this approach will help to expedite the process of reviews”. The body said that it is committed to a “thorough and speedy completion” of the review process. “We understand that the wait has been long for many. It is expected that this process will be completed shortly and we therefore request your continued patience and support as we carefully navigate this challenging period,” the statement said.
To mitigate the situation, CXC registrar Dr. Wayne Wesley, and Chairman, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles had noted during a press conference in October that CXC would be increasing its apacity and putting several other measures in place to handle the queries and reviews in a timely manner. However, some students do not believe things are being done as pledged. According to the Council it will provide a further update next week, via a media briefing. In Guyana over the past weekend the Ministry of Education (MoE) had revealed that some 51 percent of the queries sent to CXC over unsatisfactory results have been resolved, while 17 out of the 20 schools where students received ungraded results, have now received results.