O-level, A-level exams start today

LAHORE: Pakistani students are all set to sit for their Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge O Level and Cambridge International AS & A Level exams with the first exam starting on Tuesday (today).

One of the concerns, especially for most of the female students taking these UK school qualifications in Pakistan this time is henna or mehndi designs they have on their hands as the exam is being held right after Eid-ul-Fitr. The candidates having mehndi designs usually face problems in the exams. However, the British Council has assured the candidates that there is no issue with candidates having mehndi on their hands, as long as there is nothing written on the hands.

“We will look for written words or texts, and if there is just a design, the students are good to take exams,” Kamran Malik, an educationist and former spokesperson Pakistan Education Council & Member Cambridge Advisory Council, wrote in a social media post on Monday.

Talking to The News, Kamran Malik said that students and parents were concerned about mehndi designs as the exam was being held right after Eid-ul-Fitr. He said that the O level exam for Urdu which was a very important qualification would be held on Wednesday (tomorrow). While quoting a message from the British Council Pakistan, Kamran Malik said “We (British Council) will look for written words or texts, & if there is just a design, the students are good to take exams.”

It is pertinent to mention here that the British Council works in partnership with UK awarding bodies including Cambridge International Examinations & Edexcel International to conduct exams for UK qualifications on their behalf in Pakistan.

According to Cambridge International, with over 330,000 subject entries, more than 100,000 candidates in Pakistan will be sitting for the June exam series in over 100 subjects in Cambridge O Level, IGCSE and Cambridge International AS & A Level qualifications. The June exam series is Cambridge International’s largest exam series every year, with hundreds of thousands of candidates sitting for their school exams around the world.