CXC flags surge in exam irregularities, AI misuse

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is reporting a sharp increase in examination irregularities this year, with cases involving unauthorised devices, collusion, unauthorised materials and the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) among the leading violations.

Dr Nicole Manning, director of operations at CXC, said 128 irregularity cases were recorded across the Caribbean this year, up from 80 in 2025.

Speaking during the official launch of the 2026 CXC examination results in Anguilla on Tuesday, Manning said the increase was a serious concern for the regional examining body, particularly because students found guilty of examination misconduct risk having their grades cancelled or being disqualified.

“The top three issues this year were the use of unauthorised devices, collusion, and use of unauthorised material, and, the new one for us, artificial intelligence misuse,” Manning said.

“This year we saw a whopping 128 such cases, moving from 80 last year. This is not something the CXC likes to see, because candidates who commit any of those irregularities have their grades either cancelled or they are disqualified,” she said.

The increase was particularly pronounced at the CSEC level.

CXC recorded 106 irregularity cases among CSEC candidates this year, compared with 57 last year.

At CAPE, there were 22 cases, compared with 23 in 2025.

Manning said the violations were not always isolated incidents.

In some cases, the same forms of misconduct were repeated across different examinations by the same students.

The council's concerns over AI misuse come as schools and examining bodies across the region grapple with students' growing use of generative artificial intelligence.

At the same time, CXC extended consideration to hundreds of candidates who experienced circumstances beyond their control during the examination period.

Manning said 359 candidates received compassionate consideration this year after experiencing circumstances such as medical challenges or deaths in their families.

Of that number, 71 were CAPE candidates, and 288 were sitting CSEC.

The figures represent a decline from last year, when 72 CAPE candidates and 377 CSEC candidates received compassionate consideration.

“That means that these candidates were not disadvantaged in any way even though they would have experienced some sort of issue in their lives. We are helping them to continue,” Manning said.

She said CXC also activated its disaster recovery protocol to assist Jamaican students whose education was disrupted by Hurricane Melissa last year.

Approximately half of the examination centres in Jamaica were affected by the hurricane and were selected to use a modified approach for the exams.

“The CXC, through our disaster recovery protocol, was able to work with Jamaica to ensure that these candidates were not left behind,” Manning said.

- Corey Robinson

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