In countries or regions of countries, where exams cannot take place, we ask schools to submit a portfolio of three substantial pieces of evidence for each student. This is then marked by Cambridge examiners.
On this page you will find information about:
See our June 2024 page for series specific information, and FAQs page for further information about portfolio of evidence.
Entry guidance
We know many of you have questions about how your exam route entry options are amended if we move you to portfolio of evidence. Our Entry guidance - moving to a portfolio of evidence (PDF, 229KB) explains how your exam route entry options are amended if we move you to portfolio of evidence.
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Collecting evidence for a portfolio
Our guidance Collecting a portfolio of evidence (PDF, 381KB) explains the types of work that can be included in the portfolio and gives advice about when and how to gather this work.
The Rationale Document
Each centre must complete a Rationale Document for each syllabus, explaining in detail how the portfolios of evidence have been compiled for each candidate. We will ask you to submit a digital copy of the Rationale Document to us alongside your candidates’ portfolios of evidence.
You can download the rationale document template below. You must complete this and then submit it using Submit for Assessment. We can accept submissions in Word or PDF.
Rationale Document (DOCX, 262KB)
To help you understand what to include in the Rationale Document and the level of detail needed for our examiners to fully understand the work, we have produced the following example completed Rationale Documents below.
Rationale Document example 1 (PDF, 255KB)
Rationale Document example 2 (PDF, 237KB)
Rationale Document example 3 (PDF, 235KB)
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Special consideration
Special consideration is a post-exam adjustment that we make to a candidate's mark. We do this to make allowances for some adverse circumstances, for example illness, bereavement, temporary injury or disruption to an exam. See our special consideration pages for more information how to apply and further information on how we calculate marks.
For portfolio of evidence, you can submit applications for the 'present but disadvantaged candidates' category.
We cannot generate a calculated assessment for a missing piece of evidence. This is because the portfolio of evidence entry is a single component with 100 per cent weighting. There are no other components to base a calculation on, and so ‘absent for an acceptable reason’ is not available for the portfolio of evidence route.
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Malpractice
Malpractice is any action that breaks our regulations and potentially threatens the integrity of our exams and certificates. Malpractice can happen before, during or after timetabled exams or other assessments.
Preventing and detecting of malpractice applies with equal importance to the portfolio of evidence route as it does to the normal assessment route.
We have produced a Special consideration and malpractice regulations supplement (PDF, 250KB) for schools following the portfolio of evidence route. You must use this together with the Cambridge Handbook if you are submitting portfolios of evidence.
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Marking the portfolio
Our Marking a portfolio of evidence factsheet (PDF, 291KB) explains how we mark the portfolio.
Results release
Your candidates will receive their results on our published results days, in the same way and at the same time as if they had sat their exams. We will contact you before results are released, as we usually do, via email to provide all the usual information about how to access results via Direct.
Enquiries about results
The guidance in section 6.3 of the Cambridge Handbook about our usual enquiries about results services and appeals applies to candidates who have followed the portfolio of evidence route.
The following services are available for candidates who have followed the portfolio of evidence route to a grade:
- Clerical re-check: Service 1
- Clerical re-check with copy of script: Service 1S
- Review of marking: Service 2
- Review of marking with copy of script: Service 2S.
In addition to these services, the following service is available for portfolio of evidence:
- Review of selection of evidence: Service 10 – a review of the choice of the pieces of evidence included in the candidate’s portfolio to check that the pieces of evidence chosen meet the criteria for selection in our published portfolio of evidence guidance. There is more information in our ‘Guidance on enquiries about results and appeals for the portfolio of evidence route’ document, see below.
Please note: You must follow the guidance in the Cambridge Handbook, alongside the additional guidance published here.
A guide to enquiries about results
We have created a guide for Heads of Centre and Exams Officers. It explains the enquiries about results and appeals that are available to candidates who have followed the portfolio of evidence route. It is a supplement to Cambridge Handbook.
Guidance on enquiries about results/ and appeals for the portfolio of evidence route (PDF, 200KB)
Candidates and their families
To support you, we have published guidance for schools to share with candidates and their families. This guidance explains what the portfolio of evidence is, what it can include, and how pieces of work in the portfolio will be marked by Cambridge examiners.
We have added more information on enquiries about results and details of the new enquiry, ‘review of a selection of evidence: service 10’.
The portfolio of evidence – guide for students and families (PDF, 159KB)
Standards and grading
There is information about standards and grading for each series available on our results pages. We have produced a factsheet that you can share with students and their families.
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