Grade six PEP results show literacy and maths gains despite hurricane Melissa disruption

Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, presented Jamaica's 2026 Primary Exit Profile grade six national results on 22 June at a Ministry press briefing. Thousands of students sat the assessment after a school year marked by Hurricane Melissa, which severely affected roughly 12,860 pupils across seven parishes and 440 schools.

For the first time, dedicated literacy and numeracy tests were administered at grade six. Under Jamaica's functional literacy standard, which emphasises comprehension over basic reading and writing, 79% of students reached mastery, 17% almost mastery and 4% non-mastery. Numeracy mastery rose from 69.9% at grade four to 75% at grade six.

In the core curriculum-based tests, 69% of students scored proficient or highly proficient in mathematics, up from 57% in 2023 but one percentage point below the 70% target. Language arts reached 72% proficient or above, exceeding the target and improving from 60% in 2023. Girls outperformed boys across subjects, though seven of the top ten students nationally were boys.

The ministry reported that about 3,000 fewer students sat the exam than in 2024, reflecting Jamaica's declining school-age population. Of 971 participating schools, 86.1% of candidates came from public institutions. Exam absenteeism among registered students continued to fall.

Placement data showed 99% of registered students assigned secondary places, with 90% receiving one of their seven ranked choices and 9.5% placed by proximity. The top-performing primary student attended Park Mountain Primary School in St Elizabeth, a parish heavily affected by the hurricane. Separate ministry analysis found no performance decline in storm-affected parishes compared with national averages.

Minister Dixon said summer remedial work would target students at the lowest literacy and numeracy levels, with additional testing to identify possible learning difficulties. Individual student reports were scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. the same day.