CIE offers options to candidates whose exams were cancelled on May 10, 11 and 12

The Cambridge International Examination has communicated the following options for candidates whose examinations were cancelled on May 10, 11 and 12, 2023.

While giving the first option, the CIE has said that the British Council has applied for special consideration from Cambridge for all candidates whose exams were cancelled on May 10, 11 and 12, 2023 (am/pm sessions). In the second option, the CIE has given an opportunity of withdrawal and refund to the candidates if they do not wish to use special consideration for the subjects where exams were cancelled on May 10, 11 and 12.

In its official statement, the CIE has said that if a candidate intends to withdraw their entry for any subject in the June 2023 series, other than the subjects whose exams were cancelled on May 10, 11, and 12, they may also submit a request for entry withdrawal. The British Council will process all withdrawal requests in accordance with Cambridge International’s withdrawal policy for 2023. Once a candidate submits a withdrawal request, he cannot at a later point request that the component/s are marked.

According to the statement, schools and candidates also need to consider paragraph 3.2.10 of the Cambridge Handbook 2023, which says that candidates cannot re-use coursework that has been submitted in a previous exam series. This means that candidates withdrawing their entry in the June 2023 series and re-entering in a later series will need to produce new coursework for their new entry.

However, the CIE has recommended against withdrawal and refund due to the following reasons: For XIC & A2 (the outgoing classes), the schools will not be able to support the students’ examination preparation for the subjects beyond June 2023. For students who join our BCP programme, it will lead to disruption in the middle of the academic session of the next class level. For example, in the case of Al students taking XIC exams in Oct/Nov 2021. For XC & AS Level exams, opting for withdrawal will lead to disruption in the middle of the academic year of the next class level to take the exam. For A2 students wishing to withdraw from May/June 2023, their AS grades will not be carried forward and they will have to sit their composite exams in Oct/Nov 2023.

Uzma Yusuf, director of Cambridge Pakistan, told The News that out of the cancelled papers, only two A-level papers, Mathematics and History, will be retaken on June 21, while the remaining papers will be graded on the basis of average.