ISLAMABAD: Cambridge International has decided to retake the AS and A-Level exams that got cancelled in May this year due to the protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The decision was taken following the protests by Pakistani students against “unfair” grades in the exams.
According to a CIE statement, the decision was made in a meeting presided by Federal Secretary for Education Waseem Ajmal here to allay the worries of students who received their A-Level results on August 10.
The meeting also discussed the concerns of the schools and students and asked for suggestions from Cambridge to support these students. Cambridge International explained to the ministry how it calculates assessment marks and why it was necessary to raise the standards of credentials to pre-pandemic levels.
After the briefing, the education ministry “recognised that June 2023 exam results are fair, valid and reliable even where students missed some components due to the disruption to exams on 10, 11, and 12 May,” according to the statement from Cambridge.
Any student who missed an exam for the Cambridge International AS and A-Level on May 10, 11, or 12 due to exam cancellations “can retake exams for that subject without paying the Cambridge exam fee in the November 2023 exam series,” Cambridge said.
In addition, the ministry decided to engage in discussions with the vice-chancellors of Pakistani universities, requesting them to introduce flexibility into their admission procedures for the affected students. Moreover, Cambridge International is committed to make a similar request to universities in Pakistan.
These developments transpired following widespread discontent among A-Level students who expressed dissatisfaction with their results, prompting many to organize protests in cities like Karachi and Lahore, particularly contesting the use of an average points system.
The spokesperson of Cambridge International said in a statement, “Like other exam boards, we have been moving the standard of Cambridge qualifications back to the pre-pandemic standard of 2019 in gradual steps.”
Further, it said that this year’s standard has returned to the standard of 2019, which means that a student who would have achieved a grade A in 2019 will be just as likely to get an A in 2023.
