Updated
Caribbean Medical School USMLE Pass Rates: 6 Schools, 79% to 98%
Six Caribbean medical schools publish USMLE Step 1 first-time pass rates between 79% and 98% on their own sites, and Step 2 CK rates between 89% and 98%. Saba reports 98% on both for 2024, and St. George's reports 82% on Step 1 for its US students over 2020-2024. Each rate counts only students the school allowed to sit.
Below are each school's numbers with its own window and definition, what you have to pass before the school lets you take the exam, and how the rates sit next to USMLE's figures for US schools. Every number links to the school's page, read as of November 1, 2026. We left out third-party lists that don't say where their numbers come from.
What USMLE pass rates do Caribbean medical schools publish?
These are first-time pass rates, as each school states them. Read the window before you compare two schools: one calendar year can move a lot more than a five-year total.
| School | Step 1 | Step 2 CK | Years and who is counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saba University School of Medicine, Saba | Step 1: 98% | Step 2 CK: 98% | Years and who is counted: Calendar year 2024. All students taking it for the first time. |
| American University of Antigua (AUA), Antigua | Step 1: 91.3% | Step 2 CK: 91% | Years and who is counted: As of October 15, 2026 (no window given). First-time test takers (no further definition given). |
| Medical University of the Americas (MUA), Nevis | Step 1: 85% | Step 2 CK: 96% | Years and who is counted: Calendar year 2024. All students taking it for the first time. |
| St. George's University (SGU), Grenada | Step 1: 82% | Step 2 CK: 89% | Years and who is counted: Step 1: calendar years 2020-2024. Step 2 CK: academic years 2021-2025. US citizens and permanent residents only. |
| Ross University School of Medicine, Barbados | Step 1: 82% | Step 2 CK: 90% | Years and who is counted: Step 1: first attempts in 2021-2025. Step 2 CK: first attempts in 2020-2024. All students whose first attempt fell in the window. |
| American University of the Caribbean (AUC), St. Maarten | Step 1: 79% | Step 2 CK: 92% | Years and who is counted: First attempts in 2021-2025. All students whose first attempt fell in the window. |
Ross's Step 2 CK figure is on its facts page, and its Step 1 figure and window on its Student Consumer Information page. AUA lists its rates as of October 15, 2026 without a window. Other schools we checked did not show a first-time rate on the pages we read, so ask them for one in writing.
Who does each school count?
The schools divide the same way, passes on the first try over first-time takers, but they pick different students and different years.
- Only US students: St. George's counts US citizens and permanent residents, over five calendar years for Step 1 and five academic years for Step 2 CK.
- All students, one year: Saba and MUA count every student who took the exam for the first time in calendar year 2024.
- All students, five years: Ross and AUC count students whose first attempt fell in a five-year window (2021-2025, except Ross's Step 2 CK at 2020-2024), and both say the rate comes from exam results the school received, not from third-party exam reports.
Each school's definition and gate, side by side
| School | Who is counted | Before Step 1 | Before Step 2 CK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saba University School of Medicine | Who is counted: All students taking it for the first time | Before Step 1: Finish the Basic Science curriculum and any other prerequisites the school sets | Before Step 2 CK: Finish the Clinical Medicine curriculum and any other prerequisites the school sets |
| American University of Antigua (AUA) | Who is counted: First-time test takers (no further definition given) | Before Step 1: Not stated on the facts page | Before Step 2 CK: Not stated on the page we read |
| Medical University of the Americas (MUA) | Who is counted: All students taking it for the first time | Before Step 1: Finish the Basic Science curriculum and any other prerequisites the school sets | Before Step 2 CK: Finish the Clinical Medicine curriculum and any other prerequisites the school sets |
| St. George's University (SGU) | Who is counted: US citizens and permanent residents only | Before Step 1: Pass all basic sciences courses | Before Step 2 CK: Not stated on the page we read |
| Ross University School of Medicine | Who is counted: All students whose first attempt fell in the window | Before Step 1: Finish the Medical Sciences curriculum, including a simulated Step 1 exam | Before Step 2 CK: An acceptable score on the NBME CCSE |
| American University of the Caribbean (AUC) | Who is counted: All students whose first attempt fell in the window | Before Step 1: Finish the Medical Sciences curriculum, including a simulated Step 1 exam | Before Step 2 CK: An acceptable score on the NBME CCSE |
Why do schools test you before Step 1?
Five of the six schools say they certify students for Step 1 only after students pass the school's own work. AUA's facts page does not say. St. George's requires all basic sciences courses. Ross and AUC require the Medical Sciences curriculum, including a simulated Step 1 exam, and an acceptable NBME CCSE score before Step 2 CK. Saba and MUA add any other prerequisites the school sets at its discretion. Ross says plainly that not all matriculants sat for Step 1.
That gate is a good thing for you: it stops students from taking the real exam before they are ready. It also means a pass rate tells you how prepared students were when they sat, not how many of the entering class got there.
Our worked example: what a pass rate leaves out
This is our illustration, not any school's number. Say 100 students start term 1, 80 of them pass the school's own exams and sit for Step 1, and 82% of those pass on the first try. The school reports 82%. Of the 100 who started, 66 passed Step 1 on the first try.
Ask for the first number in that sentence, how many starters sit, and you can do this math for any school. St. George's publishes a graduation rate by entering year, which helps. Our best Caribbean medical schools guide covers it.
How do Caribbean pass rates compare with US medical schools?
USMLE publishes national figures. Per its performance data, 93% of first-time takers from US MD schools passed Step 1 in 2025, against 75% of first-time takers from non-US schools. On Step 2 CK in 2024-25, the figures were 98% and 90%. The non-US group is every school outside the US, not only the Caribbean, and from 2025 it includes Canadian schools.
A school's own rate and USMLE's national rate count different groups, so neither settles the question alone. The fairest test is the one in the questions below: of everyone who started, how many passed.
Step 1 is pass/fail. What does that change?
Since January 26, 2022, USMLE reports Step 1 as pass or fail only, on score reports and on transcripts, including those sent to programs through ERAS. So a first-try pass on Step 1 is the goal. For Step 2 CK scores, see our average Step 2 CK score by specialty guide.
Your school's accreditation also decides whether you can get ECFMG certification, which our accredited Caribbean schools guide explains. For residency outcomes, read each school's own residency rate and the residency match rate explainer, which links NRMP's reports.
Questions to ask each school about its pass rate
We wrote these from the gaps in what schools publish. Ask by email so you have the answers in writing.
- Of the students who started term 1 in a given year, how many sat for Step 1 within the normal time, and how many passed on the first try?
- What do I have to pass before you certify me for Step 1, what score does it take, and how many attempts do I get?
- Does your pass rate count every student, or only US citizens and permanent residents?
- What was the first-time rate for the most recent single year, not only the multi-year figure?
- What do I have to pass before Step 2 CK, and what is your first-time Step 2 CK rate for the same years?
- What happens to a student who fails Step 1 once: can they stay on schedule for rotations?
Practice the Step 1 question
Caribbean admissions interviews often ask how you will handle the board exams. See how six schools run their interviews in our Caribbean interview guide, then try this one out loud.
“How will you make sure you pass Step 1 on your first attempt?”
Caribbean schools ask some version of this because their outcomes depend on it. A good answer names a plan you have already tested, not a promise to work hard.
Example answer written by Confetto (the applicant is invented)
I already know how I study best, because I learned it the hard way. My first MCAT was a 497. For the retake I switched from rereading to daily practice questions, tracked every miss in a spreadsheet and took a full-length exam every Saturday. I scored 506.
I would do the same here from term 1: questions every day alongside the lectures, the school's practice exams as checkpoints, and office hours as soon as a topic slips. I also read how your school certifies students for Step 1, so I know what I have to pass first and I can plan backward from it.
Sources: each school's own facts, outcomes and consumer information pages, USMLE's performance data and its Step 1 pass/fail announcement, linked throughout and checked as of November 1, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What are the USMLE pass rates at Caribbean medical schools?
On their own sites, six schools we checked report Step 1 first-time pass rates from 79% to 98% and Step 2 CK rates from 89% to 98%. Saba reports 98% on both for all its first-time takers in 2024, St. George's 82% for its US students over 2020-2024, and Ross 82% and AUC 79% for all students whose first Step 1 attempt fell in 2021-2025. See Saba's facts page.
What is the USMLE pass rate for US and non-US medical schools?
Per USMLE, 93% of first-time takers from US MD schools passed Step 1 in 2025, against 75% from non-US schools, Caribbean schools included. A Caribbean school's own rate counts only students it allowed to sit, after its own exams, so the two aren't directly comparable. See USMLE's performance data.
Why don't all Caribbean students take Step 1?
Schools certify students for Step 1 only after they pass the basic or medical sciences curriculum, and at Ross and AUC that includes a simulated Step 1 exam. Ross says not all matriculants sat for Step 1. Students who leave before that point are not in the pass rate. Read Ross's footnotes.
Is Step 1 still scored?
No. USMLE has reported Step 1 as pass or fail only for exams taken on or after January 26, 2022, and that includes transcripts sent to residency programs through ERAS. So the result programs see from Step 1 is whether you passed. See the USMLE announcement.
Which Caribbean school has the highest USMLE pass rate?
Among the six we checked, Saba publishes the highest: 98% on Step 1 and on Step 2 CK, for students testing in 2024. Its window is one year and it counts all students, while St. George's uses five years and only US students, so compare the definitions before the numbers. See SGU's definition.