The Cambridge International Examination has announced the options available to candidates whose exams were canceled on May 10, 11, and 12, 2023.
The first option is that the British Council has requested special consideration from Cambridge for all candidates affected by the exam cancellations.
The second option allows candidates to withdraw and receive a refund if they do not wish to use special consideration for the subjects in which their exams were canceled.
According to the official statement, candidates who want to withdraw from any subject in the June 2023 series, except for the ones affected by the cancellations, can submit a withdrawal request.
The British Council will process these requests according to Cambridge International’s withdrawal policy for 2023. Once a withdrawal request is submitted, candidates cannot request marking for the withdrawn components at a later time.
The statement also highlights paragraph 3.2.10 of the Cambridge Handbook 2023, which states that candidates cannot reuse coursework from a previous exam series. Therefore, candidates who withdraw from the June 2023 series and re-enter in a later series will need to submit new coursework for their new entry.
However, the CIE advises against withdrawal and refund for several reasons. For XIC & A2 (outgoing classes), schools will not be able to support students’ exam preparation for subjects beyond June 2023.
Opting for withdrawal would disrupt the academic session for students in the next class level, such as those taking XIC exams in Oct/Nov 2021. For XC & AS Level exams, withdrawal would also disrupt the academic year for students in the next class level. A2 students who withdraw from May/June 2023 would not carry forward their AS grades and would need to sit their composite exams in Oct/Nov 2023.
Uzma Yusuf, the director of Cambridge Pakistan, has informed a national daily that only two A-level papers, Mathematics and History, will be retaken on June 21, while the remaining papers will be graded based on an average.
It is important to note that the options provided by Cambridge International aim to address the impact of exam cancellations and provide candidates with alternative pathways for their assessments.
