Bermuda’s adoption of the Cambridge International Curriculum (CIE) was given high marks by Education Minister Nalton Brangman.The Island’s middle school M3 students are to sit their first examinations under the new curriculum next week.Middle schoolers have their exams from April 16 to 18, while P6 students will sit theirs on the mornings of April 23 to 25.And senior school students will sit the IGCSE exams in May — marking the second year that Bermuda’s students take the international GCSEs.Education Minister Nalton Brangman said staff had “met or exceeded all the relevant conditions” for delivering last year’s CIE exams — the first time they were administered in Bermuda.According to Education Commissioner Wendy McDonell, feedback from Cambridge consultants had been “complimentary” on the Island’s adopting of the new curriculum.Bermuda remains the only jurisdiction that uses the Cambridge curriculum across its entire public school system.“The CIE raises standards and expectations,” Mr Brangman said. “The content of the curriculum demands higher order thinking skills.“It provides unambiguous benchmark standards at the end of each stage of education — P3, M3 and S2 — which was strongly suggested by the authors of the Hopkins report.”Hailing Ms McDonell as “a specialist in the transformation of educational system”, Mr Brangman said the middle schools were now the focus of reforms.One middle school had students sitting IGCSEs last year, Ms McDonell pointed out; five schools have submitted students’ names for the exams.