The Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in Jamaica is administered to students in the year in which they are expected to conclude their primary education. It assesses students for placement in secondary schools, where they are expected to continue their education by building on the foundation that they received at the primary level.

The aim of this study was to establish how well students' GSAT language arts scores predicted their future performance on CSEC English A and to determine the impact of students' level of literacy, based on their GSAT language arts score, on their performance on CSEC English A. Using a longitudinal methodology, the performance of four cohorts of students was traced from primary through secondary schools. The results revealed a strong correlation between performance on the GSAT language arts and CSEC English A.