19th February 2021, we have received notification that Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) Exams 2021 (May/June Series) have been cancelled in the UK.
CAIE have said: “For schools in the United Kingdom, this means that exams for Cambridge IGCSE, O Level, and International AS & A Level will no longer take place. We will say next week how we will enable private candidates to be assessed.”
Tutors & Exams has welcomed the clarity given by CAIE. The previous statements from CAIE had brought with it some confusion and doubt amongst candidates. This now brings CAIE in line with all of the other General Qualification awarding organisations across the UK.
Pearson has announced that their International GCSE (IGCSE) exams for summer 2021 have been cancelled.
The board declared, “… it will not be possible to run exams without the risk of unintentionally disadvantaging individual students.” (Schools Week)
For home educated students this comes as another blow to their hopes of gaining formal qualifications. Last year an estimated 20,000 external candidates were denied any hope of gaining a qualification when the DfE failed to take their needs into account. This year EO and other organisations have attempted to make the case for home educators as external candidates and had hoped that IGCSEs would go ahead as planned.
If you were hoping to take exams then keep up to date with both IGCSE providers.
Cambridge International currently plans to continue with exams, but it is unclear if the situation will continue given the move by Pearson to align with the DfE and OFQUAL.
Update.
Cambridge International has announced that in countries where exams can go ahead they will. Sadly, this means in the UK exams will no longer be available for summer 2021.
Private candidate for Pearson IGCSEs can find up to date advice here on how to find centres that can help with teacher assessed grades.
