10 Dec 2021
As the year draws to a close, we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone in our schools around the world for their continued commitment and exceptionally hard work over the last year. 2021 has brought us many challenges, but we have worked together to achieve great things and prepare our learners for their next step in life.
Whether you are taking time away from work over the next few weeks or not, we wish you and your loved ones all the very best.
Our update is full of important guidance and reminders. We hope you find it useful.
For our November 2021 series
- Guidance and support to help you prepare for results release
- A reminder of our post-results checks and appeals services for school-assessed grades For June 2022 series exams:
For June 2022 series exams:
- NEW An update on our approach.
- A reminder about our guidance on component exemptions, adjustments, and special consideration.
- How to register for our next exams officer update webinars.
Portfolio of Evidence for the June 2022 series (where exams cannot take place):
- NEW information about Rationale documents and how we will mark portfolios of evidence.
- NEW guidance on carrying forward marks to the portfolio of evidence route.
- An update on when we will ask you to submit portfolios of evidence.
November 2021
With less than a month until results are released, today’s update highlights the extra resources and support we have created for schools, now available on our website. These resources and support will help you communicate results and next steps to students and their families.
Results release
We plan to release results on the following dates:
- Cambridge International AS & A Level, AICE and Cambridge International Project Qualification - 10 January 2022 at 06.00 UTC/GMT
- Cambridge IGCSE/O Level - 18 January 2022 at 06.00 UTC/GMT
* release dates may be different in countries where we have a different arrangement, such as working with us via a government ministry.
Preparing for results day
We know many of you have questions about results day, and how this year may be different due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All candidates will receive their results at the same time, regardless of whether they sat their exams or are receiving school-assessed grades.
We have guidance and support on preparing for results day. This includes information on when and how results are released, accessing results, and using our candidate results service. It also includes guidance on sharing school-assessed grades with candidates.
Managing results day
Results day is again likely to be different this year for many of you due to the potential public health challenges involved in bringing together groups of candidates to collect their results. To help you think through how to plan and manage results day at your centre, view our guidance on managing results day.
Post-results checks and appeals
We are offering post-results checks and appeals services for centres receiving school-assessed grades, so you can ask us to check your candidates’ grades.
Schools that ran exams for the November 2021 series can find more about our enquiries about results service.
June 2022 exams
If government directives in a country or region mean exams cannot take place, we will switch to an approach based on a portfolio of evidence. We can do this from 24 January, although we anticipate that in most instances it will be later.
We will be able to issue an exam grade to all students who have sat exams in at least one eligible component. This means if you have returned a script for that syllabus, in most cases, we can use that exam to give a final grade using the special consideration rule.
If exams are cancelled for your school after the start of the exam series, we would switch to portfolio of evidence for syllabuses where no component has yet been sat. We may not be able to switch a school very late in the series. We cannot switch to portfolio of evidence at candidate level – we have to treat all candidates within a syllabus the same.
Reminder: where to find our guidance on component adjustments, exemptions, and special consideration
You can find details of the component exemptions and adjustments available, along with information about special consideration.
You can apply for component exemptions and/or adjustments from 24 January until 17 April 2022 (at 23:59 UTC+1).
- By using a component exemption, candidates do not take the component but can still receive an overall syllabus grade. Exempted candidates do not sit the exam for the exempted component or complete the coursework/speaking component. You do not send any candidate work to us for the exempted component. Find out more about the component exemptions that are available, how to apply, and answers to frequently asked questions.
- Component adjustments are different from the component exemptions explained above. By using a component adjustment, candidates take the component in a way that is easier to manage – they produce a reduced amount of work and you send all the work to us. Find out more about the adjustments that are available, how to apply, and answers to frequently asked questions.
- Special consideration will be available in the June 2022 series for candidates who unexpectedly, for an acceptable reason, miss some components they were entered for. As long as these candidates have taken at least one eligible component in the exam series, they can receive a grade. Find out the components that are eligible and how to apply.
Exams officer update webinar
On 26 January, you can join our update webinar to find out the latest information on our current and future exam series. You also have the chance to ask us questions. You can book your space on this free webinar using the links below.
All our exams officer webinars planned for January-March 2022 are on our professional development calendar – remember to select ‘exams administration’ as the 'course type' in the left hand menu.
June 2022: Portfolio of evidence
We are now sharing more guidance to help schools prepare portfolios of evidence as a contingency for June 2022, in case exams cannot go ahead.
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 Rationale document templates. We will publish exemplar Rationale documents in early 2022, so that you can see the level of detail needed for our examiners to fully understand the work.
Marking portfolios of evidence
We have already announced that the portfolios of candidate evidence for the June 2022 series will be marked by Cambridge International examiners. You can now find new information about how we will do this.
Carrying forward marks on the portfolio of evidence route
Our guidance Carrying forward within the portfolio of evidence explains which kinds of assessments we can carry forward within the portfolio of evidence route. The guidance document also explains the different approaches to carrying forward Cambridge International AS Level components to A Level when using the portfolio of evidence route.
Portfolio of evidence has enabled us to restore more of our usual carry forward arrangements than school-assessed grades, giving your learners more flexibility in managing the impact of the pandemic. However, some constraints remain – for example, we cannot provide a ‘Best of Both’ approach for AS Level – so we strongly encourage you to read our guidance carefully.
When to submit portfolios of evidence
The timetable for submitting portfolios of evidence and their accompanying Rationale documents will be aligned with the exam timetable for June 2022, so that we can mark them at the same time.
You will be able to submit portfolios of evidence from 2 May 2022. For some syllabuses, portfolios of evidence will need to be submitted to us by 18 May. Syllabuses examined later in the exam series will have later submission deadlines.
We will publish a full timetable of submission deadlines for portfolios of evidence in early 2022.
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.
