Cambridge IGCSEs Go Ahead In Some Countries

Students in more than 100 countries worldwide will sit their Cambridge IGCSE and A Level exams this summer, while those in countries worst affected by the pandemic such as the UK will likely receive teacher assessed grades.
This article is part of an editorial series on Covid-19
Covid-19
Do your children attend a Vietnam school? Take our survey and help other parents.
WhichSchoolAdvisor's annual school survey.
LET'S GO
Covid-19
This article is part of an editorial series on Covid-19

International exams will still go ahead this summer for some IGCSE and A Level students. Exam board Cambridge has announced that it “plans for exams to go ahead in June 2021 where it is permitted and safe”; in countries including the UK, where schools are currently closed, Cambridge exams are most likely to be replaced with teacher assessed grades.

For several weeks, we have known that all GCSE and A Level exams in England and Wales are cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. More recently, Pearson Edexcel and OxfordAQA have cancelled their IGCSE and A Level exams for the summer 2021 season in favour of awarding students with teacher assessed grades. And last week, the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) confirmed that there will be dual route model for the May 2021 Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme exams, with schools able to choose between exams or an assessment option.

In a letter to students published on Friday (February 12), Christine Özden, chief executive of Cambridge Assessment International Education, said:

“We are planning for exams to go ahead in June 2021 where it is permitted and safe. We know that exams are the best and fairest way of assessing a student’s performance.
“There is a small number of countries (such as Mexico and the UK) and regions within countries, where running exams may not be possible because of directives from national or regional authorities. For those countries and regions, we are looking at switching from exams to an approach based on teacher assessment.
“We are monitoring the situation in the 160 countries where we operate. If it becomes clear that exams cannot go ahead in your country or region, your school will let you know and they will switch to an approach based on teacher assessment.”

While many other exam boards are cancelling exams, Cambridge remains one of the few to go ahead as (almost) normal. The decision will affect many expat students in countries including the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as students at independent schools in the UK (many of which do a mix of IGCSEs and GCSEs).

Özden adds:

“Cambridge International is an international exam board, and we work with schools in 160 countries. This means that we need to ensure that the decisions we make about exams work for as many of our schools as possible.

“Most of the schools we have surveyed have told us they want us to give students the opportunity to sit exams on the full syllabus, wherever it is possible. We also believe that exams are the best way to assess your knowledge and attainment. At the same time, we need to help students progress, even if they live in a country where the government has decided exams cannot go ahead.”

Comments
Latest Vietnam articles
University

Record Number of Students Get University Place Via Clearing

A record number of UK 18-year-olds have secured a place at a UK university using Clearing.…

School Performance

Top UK Boarding Schools for A Level Results

The top five boarding schools in the UK for A Levels results in 2023 are Oxford Internatio…

Choosing A School

Top 10 UK Independent Schools for BTECs

BTECs (Business and Technology Education Council – named after the body which first …

Wellbeing

Checkmate: Why Chess Should Be Taught In Schools

Schools worldwide, including the Overseas Family School in Singapore, recognise that chess…

School Performance

On-screen GCSEs: Are They a Success?

Thousands of students received their results this summer after sitting traditional pen-and…

Wellbeing

Starting Online School: Your First Year Checklist

Starting an online school can be an unfamiliar and new experience. As students take their …

Exam Preparation

GCSE Resits & Appeals: The Complete Guide

Exam boards are expecting a record number of GCSE resits and appeals against GCSE grades a…

Courses & Curricula

What Do GCSE and IGCSE Grades Mean?

Many students (and parents) around the world are waiting in anticipation for the imminent …

0 Schools Selected
keyboard_arrow_down keyboard_arrow_up
Your selection Clear All