THE HON.

FAYVAL WILLIAMS
MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND YOUTH
ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS OF THE
2022 SITTING OF THE PRIMARY EXIT PROFILE EXAMS
JULY 8, 2022
Courtesies
 Mrs. Maureen Dwyer, Permanent Secretary
 Dr. Kasan Troupe, Acting Chief Education Officer
 Senior Officers of the Ministry of Education and Youth
 Members of the media

Good morning.
I am pleased to welcome you to this press conference for the announcement of
the results of the 2022 Primary Exit Profile assessments.
As it was last year, the Ministry of Education and Youth made adjustments to the
administration of the PEP 6 exams given the unprecedented impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the education system.

The Ministry also made several changes to its approach to instruction and
assessment. These changes were guided by research and proven
psychometrical processes, consistent with our commitment to provide a first-class
education to every Jamaican child.

For 2021/2022 academic year the Ministry of Education adjusted the content
coverage for the achievement component of the tests. Students were assessed

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using the content from the first term through the Second Term, Unit 1. The tests
were administered as outlined below:
 Ability Test - March 2022
 PEP Curriculum Based Tests – April 2022
(Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts)
Caution must be taken in making comparison of the Primary Exit Profile over the
years as the components varied due to the impact of the pandemic.

PEP 6 2022 Administration

For the Ability Test and Curriculum Based Tests, students sat their examinations in
1,054 examination centres under the supervision of a Presiding Examiner and
invigilators. Regional Teams were set up to act as “monitors” on the days of
administration to ensure the examinations were administered according to the
prescribed guidelines. The Presiding Examiners and Invigilators were trained in
February 2022 by the Student Assessment Unit and Regional Teams to preside
over the exams.
Exam Registration
For the exam period, 36,078 students (18,495 boys and 17,583 girl) were registered
to sit the examinations.

Table 1: 2022 PEP Statistical Summaries

2022
Registration
Statistics % to the nearest
Male Female Total whole

Number registered 18,495 17,583 36,078 -

Number absent 459 327 786 2%

Number sitting 18,036 17,256 35,292 98%

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STUDENT PLACEMENT

Of the 35,292 students who sat the examination, 35,272 were placed in a school
at the secondary level. Twenty students were not placed in a public school at the
secondary level based on their requests.

Of the 35,272 students who were placed using the results of the PEP
examination, 99% were placed in High schools and less than 1% was placed in
a Special Needs School. No student was placed in a Primary Junior High School,
as the junior high school departments of these schools have been phased out.

Additionally, 30,778 (87%) of students were placed in one of their preferred

schools. Since 2015 parents have been given the opportunity to indicate two
additional school choices to the standard five that they had in the past. These
two additional choices were selected from a cluster of schools that were within a
10-mile radius of students’ primary level attending schools.

These two additional choices are factored in as the sixth and seventh preferred
schools for placement. Of the total number, 4,078 (12%) students were placed
in secondary level schools that are in proximity to the schools they currently
attending (secondary placement/proximity placement). A further 416 students
(1%) were placed manually in secondary level schools. Factors taken into
consideration for manual placement included: proximity of secondary school to
the home address the students submitted and whether or not students are PATH
beneficiaries.

We want to underscore that the Ministry of Education continues to employ

strategies to increase the quality of secondary school places. Some of these
strategies include:

 increase in financial allocation to schools for resources

 phasing out of schools on shift system by providing additional places
 refurbishment of existing facilities

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  development of partnerships where necessary for students with special
needs
 School Improvement Support and Monitoring

It must be noted that 100% of our schools are now a school of choice, in that
students are now selecting a variety of schools as their preferred school for
placement even though there is still a high demand for the traditional high
schools.

PLACEMENT of PATH BENEFICIARIES FOR PEP 2022

This year, six thousand eight hundred and thirteen (6,813) students who are PATH
beneficiaries sat the PEP 2022 Examination. Of this number 3,423 were boys and
3,390 were girls. Six thousand one hundred and sixty-four (90%) were placed by
preference (choice) and five hundred and sixty-two (9%) students were placed
by proximity, also eighty-seven (1%) were manually placed. This shows that a
significant number of PATH beneficiaries are getting their preferred school of
choice.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The Primary Exit Profile represents a new approach in the reporting of the scores
while ensuring that the scores are aligned to the Competence Based Transition
Policy and the Alternate Pathways for Secondary Education. One of the major
goals of the National Standards Curriculum is to enable students to become
critical-reflective thinkers, creative problem solvers, effective communicators
and natural collaborators. The Primary Exit Profile aims to assess these skills
and competencies as outlined by the National Standards Curriculum.

In reporting students’ achievement of the National Standards Curriculum at

Grade 6, the following four categories were used for all four subjects:

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1. Beginning – Students at this level demonstrate limited or no evidence of the
required competence necessary at Grade 6, as specified in the National
Standards Curriculum (NSC). These students will need intensive on-going
academic support at Grade 7.
2. Developing – Students at this level demonstrate partial evidence of the
required competence necessary at Grade 6 level, as specified in the National
Standards Curriculum (NSC). These students will need targeted academic
support at Grade 7
3. Proficient – Student at this level demonstrate adequate evidence of the
required competence necessary at Grade 6, as specified in the National
Standards Curriculum (NSC). These students may need minimal academic
support and/or extended learning activities at Grade 7.
4. Highly Proficient – Students at this level demonstrate an advanced level of
competence necessary at Grade 6, as specified in the National Standards
Curriculum (NSC). They may need extended learning activities at Grade 7.

Placement Score is the score used to place students in a high school. This score
is derived by:
 determining the number of questions, a student answered correctly on
each test
 convert scores to standard scores
 combining these standard scores and using them to rank and place the
students

It is important to note that the higher the placement score, the better the student
performed.

Scaled Scores are used to report students’ achievement of the National

Standards Curriculum (NSC). The report will show students’ scaled scores in
four subjects. Scaled scores are derived by taking the number of questions the

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student answered correctly on each test, then converting these to a common
scale that range from 200 – 400.

The scaled scores are directly aligned to achievement level descriptors

(beginning, developing, proficient and highly proficient), which detail how well a
student has achieved the required knowledge, skills and competencies as
outlined in the NSC for each subject. They also capture and document the level
of support students may need at each level and their overall readiness for Grade
7. The score in each subject should be aligned to the appropriate achievement
level in order to identify exactly where on the learning continuum the student
may be located.

Percentile Rank - The Ability Test is reported as a percentile rank. This

percentile rank tells how well a student performs on the Ability Test compared
to all other students that sat the test. For example, a student who is in the 95th
percentile would have performed better than 95% of all test takers on the Ability
Test.

Alternative Pathway to Secondary Education

Another feature of the PEP Individual Summary Report is the specified pathway
that each student is placed at the secondary level. There are three pathways at
the secondary level:

Pathway I: A curriculum-based 7- year programme that will access the National

Standards Curriculum at Grades 7 – 9, the Career Pathways at Grades 10-11
and the Sixth Form Pathways at Grades 12-13.
Pathway II: A curriculum-based 2-year transitional programme. Students will
be provided with targeted intervention and support to enable their transition to
Pathway I after two years. The students will then access the Career Pathways at
Grades 10-11 and the Sixth Form Pathways at Grades 12-13.

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 Pathway III: Students will be instructed using a modified curriculum in the core
subject areas. They will be provided with targeted instructional and assessment
support throughout their 7-year programme of study. Based on their learning
progress, students may transition to either pathways I or II during the period of
Grades 7-9 and then access the Career Pathways at Grades 10-11 and the Sixth
Form Pathways at Grades 12-13.

UNDERSTANDING THE STUDENT’S SCORE

The Ministry of Education and Youth has established a reporting system for PEP
which is based on a series of performance levels and descriptors supported by a
range of scores for each subject assessed. The levels range from Beginning to
Highly Proficient and describe students’ achievement of the National Standards
Curriculum. The table below provides the description of the each of achievement
levels to be utilized for reporting student performance.

BEGINNING DEVELOPING PROFICIENT HIGHLY

Student Student Student PROFICIENT
demonstrates limited demonstrates partial demonstrates Student
or no evidence of evidence of required adequate evidence of demonstrates an
required competence competence required competence advanced level of
necessary at this necessary at this necessary at this competence
grade level, as grade level, as grade level, as necessary at this
specified in the specified in the specified in the grade level, as
National Standards National Standards National Standards specified in the
Curriculum and will Curriculum and will Curriculum and may National Standards
need intensive, on- need targeted need minimal Curriculum and may
going academic academic support at academic support need extended
support at grade 7. grade 7. and or extended learning activities at
learning activities at grade 7.
grade 7.

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 Each subject has a corresponding range of scores. The range of score for each
subject is based on scaled scores derived from the students’ raw scores.

Score Ranges by Subject

Subject Beginning Developing Proficient Highly
Proficient
Language
< 251 251 – 276 277 – 326 > 326
Arts
Mathematics < 267 267– 293 294 – 347 > 347
Science < 257 257 – 293 294 – 323 > 323
Social
< 265 265 – 292 293 – 327 > 327
Studies

Table 3. Table showing student achievement in the various subject areas

Tests
Beginning Developing Proficient Highly Proficient

Number Number Number Number

% of % of % of % of
of of of of
Students Students Students Students
Students Students Students Students
Mathematics
5.7 1,995 43.5 15,312 45.9 16,149 4.9 1,731

Science
1.2 415 45.0 15,834 33.8 11,891 20.0 7,042

Social Studies 4.8 1,672 41.9 14,729 37.2 13,108 16.1 5,681
Language
0.9 322 22.0 7,741 62.7 22,060 14.4 5,052
Arts

Information gleaned from students’ performance in the various subject areas

shows that less than 6% of all students are at the Beginning Level. This means
that less than 6% of the students who sat the examination demonstrated limited

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or no evidence of the required competencies and skills for readiness in Grade 7
in all subject areas.

The students who are categorized as “Beginning” will need intensive on-going
academic support at Grade 7. At the other end of the spectrum, over 50% of
students are categorized as Proficient or Highly Proficient in all four subjects.

This means that these students demonstrate an advanced level of the required
skills and competencies for readiness in Grade 7.

Based on the students’ performance it is evident that the education system at

the Primary Level is moving in the right direction.

Analysis of Student Performance in Mathematics

Based on the results shown in Table above, 45% of male students who sat the
test have demonstrated Proficiency or High Proficiency in the concepts,
procedures and application of skills required by the NSC in Mathematics while
56% of female students achieved proficiency or high proficiency.

Twice the number of male students are at the beginning level in Mathematics
when compared to the female students. 46.8% of the male students are at the
Developing level while 40% of female students are the Developing level.

These students are considered to be “borderline” students and with some

targeted support, will develop the skills that will enable them to become
proficient in Mathematics.

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 Table showing 2022 Performance in Mathematics – M/F

Achievement
Male Female
Level

Beginning 1,426 7.9% 569 3.3%

Developing
8,414 46.8% 6,898 40.0%

Proficient
7,362 41.0% 8,787 51.0%

Highly
Proficient 760 4.2% 971 5.6%

Analysis of Student Performance in Science

46.6% of male students who sat the test have demonstrated Proficiency or High
Proficiency in the concepts and skills required by the NSC in Science while 61.4%
of female students achieved proficiency or high proficiency. Twice the number of
male students are at the beginning level in Science when compared to the female
students.
The data show that 51.8% of the male students are at the Developing level while
38% of female students are the Developing level. These students are considered
to be “borderline” students and with some targeted support, will develop the
skills that will enable them to become proficient in Science.

Analysis of Student Performance in Social Studies

Based on the results shown in Table below, 44.7% of male students who sat the
test have demonstrated Proficiency or High Proficiency in the knowledge, skills
and competencies required by the NSC in Social Studies while 62.5% of female

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students achieved proficiency or high proficiency. 48.5% of the male students
are at the Developing level while 35% of female students are the Developing level.
These students are considered to be “borderline” students and with some
targeted support, will develop the skills that will enable them to become
proficient in Social Studies.

Table showing 2022 Performance in Social Studies – M/F

Achievement Level Male Female

Beginning
1,225 6.8% 447 2.6%

Developing
8,707 48.5% 6,022 35.0%

Proficient
5,692 31.7% 7,416 43.1%

Highly Proficient
2,342 13.0% 3,339 19.4%

Analysis of Student Performance in Language Arts

Language Arts had the most students attaining proficiency or high proficiency
when compared to the other subjects. This is commendable as a great emphasis
of the Language Arts curriculum is students’ application of reading and research
skills. Based on the results shown in Table above, 68.5% of male students who
sat the test have demonstrated Proficiency or High Proficiency in in reading,
writing and research skills required by the NSC in Language Arts while 86% of
the female students achieved proficiency or high proficiency.

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 Table showing 2022 Performance in Language Arts – M/F

Achievement
Male Female
Level

Beginning 254 1.4% 68 0.4%

Developing
5,405 30.1% 2,336 13.6%

Proficient
10,181 56.7% 11,879 69.0%

Highly Proficient
2,119 11.8% 2,933 17.0%

Conclusion
In conclusion it must be noted that this form of assessment has several benefits
such as:
✓ More accurate claims will be made about students
✓ Students’ achievement of the curriculum and their progress will be
monitored more regularly
✓ More opportunities will be provided for teachers to identify students’
strengths and weaknesses and therefore plan lessons to meet the
specific needs of students
✓ Students can monitor their own learning
The methods used to report students’ performance in the Primary Exit Profile
provide a more holistic overview of what each child knows and can do as they
transition from the primary level of education to the secondary level. The data
gathered from the Primary Exit Profile will serve several purposes:
 Placement at the secondary level

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  A measure of the Achievement of the National Standards Curriculum
(Mathematics, Language Arts and Science) as well as the students Ability.

The results will be available online at the parent portal as of 2:00 p.m. today. The
Regional Offices are all prepared to support schools and parents in accessing
and printing results where the service is needed. Parents and/or guardians can
call the Educate Jamaica helplines at 888-EDU-CATE (888-338-2283) and 888-
SCH-TIME (888-724-8463) for any queries or concerns.

We want to express our sincere thanks to the teachers, education officers,

invigilators and administrators at all levels who worked with our students amid
tremendous challenges to help them get to this point.

Congratulations also to all our students. We will continue to work with you to help
you continue working at your very best.

Thank you.

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