The Caribbean Examinations Council’s pilot of the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate has received overwhelming response, with more than double the expected number of candidates registering across all 13 member states.

CTEC,the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate, is a new modular qualification from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) that breaks down traditional subjects (like CSEC/CAPE) into smaller, flexible modules, allowing students to earn certification at their own pace, gain relevant skills, and achieve full subject certification by completing all modules, addressing the issue of students leaving school without any qualification.

Dr. Wayne Wesley, CXC’s Registrar and CEO, announced during a press conference in Kingston on Wednesday that the pilot has attracted 6,443 candidates, far exceeding initial projections.

“We planned for the participation of 3,000 learners for the CTEC pilot. However, we have received over 6,443 candidates. This is oversubscribed by more than 50 percent, giving us an indication as to the extent to which this product is really being accepted by the region,” Dr. Wesley said.

The pilot is being administered across 48 examination centres in all 13 member states, including Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, and Saba.

Alton McPherson, speaking online during the conference, outlined the timeline for the CTEC mathematics module one pilot, which will be administered during the May-June 2026 examination period.

“In May, June 2026 during the administration of the regular exam CXC will pilot CTEC mathematics module one within the Caribbean targeted education certificate program,” McPherson said.

He explained that stakeholder engagement has been held with all territories, with teachers and principals from all centers participating.

The implementation schedule runs from January to March, during which candidates will be oriented to the SURPASS platform. “The candidates will be engaged during the period January to March and that engagement will include the orientation to the SURPASS platform, which is a platform that will be used to administer the paper one electronically and the paper two by hybrid,” McPherson said.

Candidates will also be introduced to practice tests through the platform and registered using CXC’s new registration platform. This means CTEC pilot candidates were not registered with regular candidates during the previous registration period.

Between March and April, CXC will work with centers to ensure candidates have uploaded their school-based assessments, downloaded timetables, and completed compliance with e-test readiness requirements.

McPherson confirmed that results from the CTEC pilot will be released at the same time as regular examination results. “During July to August, we’ll conduct our final assessments and collect personal data. We’ll gather all qualitative feedback as there may be something that we have not thought about there may be something that turns up on the day of the exam that would help us in addressing and to ensure that this does not happen during the rollout in June 2027,” he said.

The data analysis and results will be released during the normal release of results in August.

Dr. Wesley noted that the response to CTEC reflects CXC’s renewed vision. “CTEC is guided by a renewed vision to ignite the potential and shape the future of our Caribbean people,” he said.