A-level outcry

Hundreds of Pakistani schools who received their Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) AS and A results did not get the grades they expected on Thursday (August 10). Given the scale of complaints made by the students, Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) finally released a statement on Sunday (August 13) specifically for Pakistan, clarifying that significant changes in the result could be a result of the testing institution’s decision to go back to the pre-pandemic 2019 grading standard. The GCSE is a competitive examination and securing higher grades is a tough job. But over the last three years, because of the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic including school closures and the hasty adoption of a distant learning model, Cambridge had shown leniency in grading. In 2020 and 2021, teachers-assessed examinations became an acceptable replacement, leading to higher grades for most students. Now the institution is undoing the temporary measures and going back to the old ways of grading. This has come as a surprise for students who have seen their grades slip.

For Pakistani students, the problem is a little different. Most students have complained that a drop in grades is because of exam cancellations. In Pakistan, the political chaos that erupted on May 9 following the arrest of PTI Chairperson Imran Khan led to the cancellation of the Cambridge exams of May 10-12. Most students went with the option of allowing Cambridge to assess their performance in components they took and are now complaining that the assessed marks are unfair and need a proper review. This is the first time in three years that Cambridge International has gone back to the 2019 grading standard, and most people who had earlier opted for the assessed marks option might not have known that their grades would differ this significantly. The institution’s Sunday statement however seems final: “in these difficult circumstances, assessed marks are the best option to help students receive results and progress to the next stage of their education.”

Fortunately for Pakistani students, concerns about a drop in grades are also high among other students across the world. DataHE, a consultancy that advises universities on admissions, says that nearly 60,000 students around the world waiting for their A-Level results will not get their expected grades, losing their chances to enter competitive universities. Conditional university offers mean that most students will miss out on securing admissions in prestigious universities because they fail to get the required grades. While the Covid-19 pandemic is over for the most part, it is still important for policymakers to understand that the disruptions caused by the pandemic will take some years to come undone. The world went through a traumatic two years and full recovery may require more time. There are students who missed out on the experience of taking GCSE exams during their O-Level and cannot cope with an unexpected drop in grades. The disruption caused by Covid-19 has led to severe learning losses, and students need better policies to make up for the loss they faced.