11 Mar 2022
In this update, you will find new and updated guidance about our June 2022 series – whether you are planning to run exams or think we may need to switch your school to our portfolio of evidence route. We are sharing information about both routes so you are prepared if the situation in your country or region changes.
New guidance and reminders about running exams:
New and updated guidance on our portfolio of evidence route:
You can also find a summary of our approach to standards for 2022.
We expect exams will go ahead in most cases. However, where directives from national or local authorities mean exams cannot go ahead, we will switch schools to to our contingency route using portfolios of candidate evidence. If your country or region is using portfolio of evidence, you will have already received a direct communication from us. Schools do not make the decision to move to portfolio of evidence themselves.
We recommend that schools have a portfolio in place for their students, in electronic form, by the start of the exam series - even if they feel confident that exams will go ahead.
June 2022: Where exams can go ahead
New: Carrying forward a Cambridge International AS Level to A Level in the June 2022 series
We appreciate many of you have questions about carry forward arrangements in the June 2022 series. The way we carry forward a candidate’s AS Level results from either the June or November 2021 series to June 2022 depends on how the candidate achieved their AS Level.
- If the candidate sat their AS Level exams: we use these AS Level marks and combine them in the normal way with the marks they achieve in their A2 Level exams in the June 2022 series to work out their A Level grade. This includes candidates whose AS Level is a combination of marks from AS Level exams and calculated marks from a component exemption.
- If the candidate received an AS Level school-assessed grade: we use the A2-only route. This means we only use the marks they achieve in their A2 Level exams in the June 2022 series to work out their A Level grade. Where a candidate has AS Level marks applicable to their entry option (for example, candidates in a ‘best-of-both’ option), we will use these to grade the candidate (as above), rather than using the A2-only route.
If we move your centre to the portfolio of evidence route because exams cannot take place in your country or region, you should follow the guidance about carrying-forward AS Level credits here.
There is more information about carrying forward AS Level to A Level on our website. We have also provided an interactive guide to making entries to help you decide on the best A Level entry option for your candidates in the June 2022 series.
There are no exceptions to the 13-month rule for carrying forward in the June 2022 series.
New: Withdrawals for Cambridge Checkpoint (May 2022 test series)
We have extended our withdrawal deadline so you can withdraw some or all of your candidates until 6 May 2022 (at 23:59 UTC+1) and you will receive a credit for the syllabus fee.
Until 11 March 2022, you can withdraw candidates on Direct. After 11 March please email us so we can arrange the withdrawal and credit for you. You will not be charged a withdrawal fee.
Reminder: Guidance on component exemptions, adjustments, and special consideration
To help your students receive their grades, we offer a range of options for schools in the June 2022 series. You can find our latest guidance on the June 2022 section of our website.
Reminder: Guidance on running exams in the June 2022 series
We know that many of you have questions about running exams in June 2022. To help answer your questions, we have produced this guide.
Make sure you use this alongside the Cambridge Handbook when planning the exam series in your centre.
June 2022: Where exams can’t take place (portfolio of evidence)
New: Guide to using Submit for Assessment to submit portfolios of evidence
We know many of you have questions about submitting portfolios of evidence to us. If we move your school to the portfolio of evidence route then you will use Submit for Assessment to send us all the evidence for each of your candidates. To help you, we have produced the ‘Administrative Guide: Submitting Portfolios of Evidence using Submit for Assessment’ that explains how to access the system, and the steps you will need to take to prepare and submit your evidence. We will continue to update this guide with more details about submitting the same task for multiple candidates and we will let you know when this information is available.
Updated: Carrying forward in the portfolio of evidence route
We have added some additional information to our ‘Carrying forward within the portfolio of evidence route’ guidance that outlines the options available if any of your A Level candidates are entered for a ‘best of both’ option in June 2022. Please see page 4 of the guide for more details.
New: Frequently asked questions
How late can we switch to portfolio of evidence?
The portfolio of evidence is designed to be as flexible as possible to accommodate uncertainty where it is unclear whether exams will be able to run. We aim to switch schools to the portfolio of evidence route by 17 April. However, if circumstances change in your country or region after 17 April and we need to switch schools from exams to the portfolio of evidence after that date, we will be able to do so.
What happens if exams have to stop after the start of the of exam series?
Once the exam series starts, we can still switch to portfolio of evidence for syllabuses where no components have yet been sat. We need to do this for all students at your centre entered for that syllabus. We will not be able to switch some of your students entered for a syllabus to portfolio of evidence while the rest of your students entered for that syllabus take the exam.
Where at least one assessed component has been taken in a syllabus, including coursework components where you have already prepared or submitted work to us for marking/moderation, you should apply for special consideration – absent for an acceptable reason. We will calculate an assessed grade for each student taking that syllabus.
We understand that schools want certainty about how their students will be assessed. As exams are the fairest and most accurate way of assessing candidates’ performance, we encourage you to prepare for exams as far as possible. We also encourage you to collect evidence for the portfolio.
We understand this creates more work now, but by preparing for both scenarios, you will have portfolios ready for submission if their local circumstances mean we have to switch you to portfolio of evidence at short notice.
Once we have been switched to portfolio of evidence, can we switch back to taking exams if the situation improves?
You will not be able to switch back to running exams if we switch you to the portfolio of evidence route. This is why we will switch schools only as a last resort, when it is clear that exams will not be able to go ahead.
Switching back to exams would require a significant amount of operational work which we cannot guarantee to complete in the time available to us. You would also have to re-start exam administration that may have been abandoned with the switch to portfolio of evidence. Expecting both us and you to deliver everything required extremely quickly introduces many risks to the delivery of exams which could mean students do not receive grades.
In addition, we appreciate that the uncertainty around exams can be stressful for students and their families. In making the switch to portfolio of evidence ‘one way’ for a particular exam series, students will then have certainty about how they will be assessed and will know that this will not change.
Join our next webinar on 30 March 2022
We will talk through these updates and the June 2022 series in general at the next Exams Officer webinar. You will also have chance to ask us questions. You can register now using the links below:
30 March, 08:30-09:30 UTC+1
30 March, 14:30-15:30 UTC+1
June 2022 standards
Some schools have asked us to clarify our approach to standards in 2022. We will align the standard of our qualifications to the standard of similar qualifications in England. For Cambridge International qualifications, this means we will aim for our exam standard to return to the pre-pandemic standard in June 2023. For June 2022, November 2022 and March 2023, we will set standards at a midpoint between 2019 and 2021.
This means our June 2022 grades will be generous compared to our June 2019 grades, and less generous than our June 2021 grades.
Here is a factsheet to help you explain this to parents and students.
Stay in touch
View our latest updates on our Covid-19 information pages.
If you have any questions, you can review our frequently asked questions or contact us via the Help website.
For British Council Partner Schools or Cambridge Associate schools, please contact your local British Council representative or Cambridge Associate.