We know the earthquake may impact your school’s ability to run exams in the coming days and weeks. We appreciate for some of our schools the impact of the earthquake is severe, and exams may not be able to resume in the May Checkpoint test series or June exam series.
Below we have outlined the options available if it is not safe or possible for candidates to sit some or all their exams at your school, but we appreciate that these options may not be possible for schools that have been severely affected.
Wherever possible, please contact us, or our regional team colleagues, to let us know the situation at your school so that we can work with you to provide support and advice.
To further support you, we have listed the assessments that may be affected (XLSX, 82KB) by the ongoing impact of the earthquake in the next three weeks, before the June 2025 timetabled exams start. We have detailed the syllabus and entry option code and the deadline or test date that may be impacted. We have also included the other components available as part of each entry option, and their timetable dates. Please contact us if you have any questions about this document.
If you have any questions or concerns about the information below, please contact us at info@cambridgeinternational.org.
If you work with us through another organisation, such as the British Council, information and deadlines may be different for your centre. If you have questions, please contact your Cambridge Associate or the British Council in the first instance.
Special consideration
Absent for an acceptable reason
If candidates miss exam components due to the impact of the earthquake, you can apply for ‘special consideration – absent for an acceptable reason’. If a candidate completes at least 15 per cent of total assessment by component weighting, they will receive a grade. We cannot calculate an assessed mark for the following:
- If a candidate is entered for a full Cambridge International A Level but does not complete any A Level components (A2 Level components)
- Any component that does not have a weighting, e.g. an endorsed component
- Syllabuses where a candidate has only completed a component that does not have a weighting, e.g. an endorsed component.
Present but disadvantaged
If exams can resume, you can apply for ‘special consideration – present but disadvantaged’. You can apply for this if you believe your candidates are suffering from the impact of the earthquake, or any previous adverse circumstances, or if they experience new adverse circumstances on the day of the exam.
How to apply
For either special consideration application, we advise you to wait until you know if some or all exams can take place and then submit one single application for all candidates and any exams missed. If you use Exam Day – Form 7 (available on Direct), you can add basic information to the form and then send us a list of the components missed, and the relevant candidates, in an Excel file. This means you will not need to submit multiple applications.
Deferring to a later exam series and withdrawing entries
You can ask us to withdraw candidates and enter them into a later exam series. We have extended our withdrawal deadline so you can ask us to withdraw some or all your candidates until 19 June 2025 at 23:59 UTC+1 (seven days after the end of the exam series) and you will receive a credit for the syllabus fee. We advise you to wait until the end of the exam series before asking us to withdraw candidates – we will provide an Excel file where you can add details of all withdrawals before submitting it to us. This means you will only need to submit one withdrawal request.
Carry forwards
We will extend the 13-month carry forward rule for any candidate who is due to complete their Cambridge International A level in June 2025, but has to withdraw because of the impact of the earthquake.
Candidates can carry forward marks from the June 2024 series to the November 2025 series.
To be eligible for the extension to the 13-month rule, candidates must:
- have been entered in the June 2025 exam series
- have been withdrawn, due to the impact of the earthquake, from their entry in the June 2025 exam series.
Transferring candidates to another school
If your school or the school where your candidates plan to sit their exams is closed, but it is safe and practical to travel, candidates may be able to sit their exams at an alternative venue. We will prioritise your application. Learn more about transferring to alternative venues. Candidates should only travel to another centre where it is safe to do so, and if they feel able to participate in the exam. You must also follow any national or local travel restrictions or guidance.
Submitting coursework
Wherever possible, please tell us if you cannot submit coursework to us, or if you are concerned about meeting any of our published submission deadlines.
Cambridge Checkpoint
The May Checkpoint test date window is 7-25 April 2025. If you think you will be unable to run tests within the test date window, please contact us so we can support you.
We know you may not be able to send scripts to us immediately, please store them securely and send them to us as soon as possible. We will mark your scripts as soon as we receive them, even if you submit them to us late. We will issue a result as soon as possible – either on our planned results day or as soon as possible afterwards.
Resource pack
If you are unable to run tests in the May 2025 test series, we can send you a Cambridge Checkpoint resource pack. This is free, and contains:
- Maths, Science, English, and English as a second language primary and lower secondary April 2023 Cambridge Checkpoint tests
- enhanced mark schemes to help teachers mark as closely as possible to Cambridge examiners
- a guidance document about administering the tests.
We can also provide an Excel spreadsheet for teachers to enter marks. For each candidate, the spreadsheet calculates summary data for each strand in a subject as well as a total score for each of the tests. This enables you to interpret candidate performance based on raw marks, considering the teaching and learning that has taken place. Please let us know if you would like us to send you the resource pack.
Postponing or re-timetabling exams
We acknowledge that, despite the above available options, there may be candidates in your centre who are unable to secure a result in the June 2025 exam series because they have been unable to take exams and therefore cannot receive a calculated assessment. We recognise the disappointment this may cause any candidates and families in this situation, and we share in this disappointment with them.
We have been asked by our schools whether it is possible for us to postpone and / or re-timetable any missed components. Because our syllabuses and components are taken by a wide range of candidates both in Myanmar and other countries globally, we are unable to postpone or re-timetable any components which have been missed.
