ISLAMABAD – A retake exam will be held by Cambridge in October, where students can appear for its subjects or components which were missed due to law and order situation on 10th, 11thand 12th May, 2023, the government announced on Friday.
A meeting was held in Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT), participated by Ms. Uzma Yousaf, Country Director, Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE), Ms. Maria Rehman, Director British Council, Executive Director IBCC, Chairman FBISE, and Heads of various Private Schools.
It was aimed to address the concerns raised by students and parents in the wake of unexpected grades in A, and AS level exams 2023.
Cambridge A-Levels exam: What’s decided?
Cambridge will not charge any fee for the conduct of such exams.
British Council will provide a reduced cost plan of logistics. Re-evaluation and Re-assessment of individual cases will be carried out, where enormous difference is found to have been noticed between school assessed grades and Cambridge assessment grades.
Schools will submit requests of re-evaluation & re-assessment to Cambridge, & the schools will bear 80% of the cost of such requests. However, 20% cost would be borne by the parents. If as a consequence of such re-evaluation Grades are changed, entire fee will be reimbursed.
Cambridge International responds to Pakistani criticism on A-Level results
The ministry will hold meetings with Vice Chancellors of renowned universities to provide flexibility in their admission to schools.
The Ministry will also coordinate with provincial governments to initiate similar measures by them.
A complaints redressal mechanism is also being setup under Private Institution Education Regulatory Authority (PIERA) in Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training to keep track of unresolved complaints.
What’s the Background?
Pakistani students, who received their Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) AS and A-Level results, were dismayed as they found themselves with grades of Cs and Es, leading them to express that an injustice had been done.
The Cambridge International issued the average grades after the exams were cancelled on May 9 and 12 due to the political tension, triggered after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
Students and their parents demanded that the cancelled papers should be conducted again so that they could improve their grades.
Following the protest, a spokesperson of Cambridge International in a statement said: “Like other exam boards, we have been moving the standard of Cambridge qualifications back to the pre-pandemic standard of 2019 in gradual steps.”
