An update on public examinations scheduled for May/June 2020

IGCSEs

These exams are organised by Cambridge International, who have issued a statement that these exams will proceed as planned in May/June 2020 in any of the schools across 160 countries conducting Cambridge IGCSEs – so long as the schools are allowed to open. If schools cannot open it is not yet clear what will happen.

AS & A-LEVELS

Our AS and A-Levels are conducted by three examining bodies – Cambridge, Edexcel Pearson International (International AS/A-Levels) and Edexcel Pearson (who conduct “British” AS/A-Levels).

Cambridge AS/A-Levels – these go ahead as planned so long as the school in question can be open to conduct examinations. If schools cannot open it is not yet clear what will happen. The AS/A-Level subjects in this category are Art & Design; Geography; and Literature.

Edexcel Pearson International – these go ahead as planned so long as the school in question can be open to operate the exams. If the school is unable to open, grades will be awarded to those who have been entered for exams. How grades will be determined is yet to be decided. The AS/A-Level subjects in this category are Mathematics; Further Mathematics; Biology; Chemistry; Physics; Economics; Greek; AS-Level French.

Edexcel Pearson (“British” AS/A-Levels) – these have been cancelled, barring any change of decision from the UK authorities. Grades will be awarded but no decision on how that will happen has yet been released. The AS/A-Level subjects in this category are History; Politics; Chinese; Russian and French (but not AS-Level French).

Advance oral exams and advance Art exams – some exam qualifications require an advance component to take place. These include languages where an oral examination is conducted, and Art & Design where an earlier exam is scheduled. These instances occur at both IGCSE and AS/A-Level. In these cases we are awaiting a definitive decision about whether time frames can be extended, or whether the advance component will occur at all.

That is where we stand currently, as of Friday 20th March. The situation may well change rapidly and the school is in almost hourly contact with exam bodies. The exam bodies themselves are in a state of flux as they wrestle with a sudden and new scenario. Even so, they understand their responsibility to pupils and schools. We are also in touch with other British schools facing the same scenario and we are seeking guidance from COBIS – the premier organisation of British schools around the world. Furthermore, we will be investigating any possibility of the school opening exclusively for examinations if the school as a whole in its regular form is ordered to be closed at the time of examinations.

In short, we are doing all in our power to get answers to all the questions relating to examinations while planning for an array of possible scenarios as well.

Our pupils in Years 11-13 who are scheduled to take examinations are advised: 

  1. Focus on your study. Let the school do all the worrying, investigation and planning around this disrupted examination (and school) period.
  2. Rest assured that however the coming weeks and months unfold, and whatever happens, the interests of you, our pupils, will be safeguarded as our top and guiding priority at all times. We will demand and ensure with all our power that pupils facing public examination assessment will be treated as fairly as possible and all this disruption that you have suffered will be taken fully into account.