17 Jul 2020
This update includes further details of the new and existing resources from across the Cambridge family to support teachers and school leaders, particularly in terms of addressing gaps in learning.
We are including further details of our plans for the November 2020 series, and advice on managing coursework requirements.
We are also including a link to a survey on your experiences of the June 2020 assessment process. Thank you to schools that have already completed the survey, we would be very grateful for any further responses from schools that have not yet done so.
We will send our next update to schools on 23 July 2020.
Support for schools
Teaching and learning when school returns – addressing gaps in learning
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on teaching across the world. Some of you may be starting to return to school or adopting a blended teaching approach. Whatever your situation, we are committed to helping you and your learners.
The Cambridge family has come together to bring you tools, resources and guidance that will help you identify your learners’ progress, address gaps in their knowledge and provide evidence of their learning.
Everyone’s experience of teaching and learning remotely has been different. If you are returning to school, you may want to address any gaps you have identified in your student’s learning. We have a range of resources and digital e-books that you can explore.
For more information, please see Addressing gaps.
New exams officer update webinars starting on 29 July 2020
To help our exams officers keep up-to-date with the administrative changes to the June and November 2020 series, we are introducing monthly support webinars.
The webinars will summarise our latest information and advice on administering exams and answer the common questions exams officers are asking our Customer Services team.
There will also be an opportunity for exams officers to ask us questions.
Find out more and register for the July webinar here.
November 2020 series
Cambridge International is planning to run exams for the November 2020 series. We believe exams remain the fairest and most reliable way to assess student achievement and our schools are telling us they want to hold exams if they can. Question papers will start to be dispatched to schools and exam centres soon.
We know many schools are continuing to adapt to the disruption caused by Covid-19, hence we will be as flexible as we can to support students and teachers, so that students can complete coursework and sit exams safely and securely. We are working on a practical guide to support schools running November exams. The guide will be available on our website in August.
We are continuing to monitor advice from government authorities around the world on whether schools can open and exams can be held in October/November. Our regional teams are also in close contact with their schools.
Schools will follow local regulation and health advice, and any that cannot hold exams safely will be able to defer their entries to the next exam series.
In the unlikely event that most candidates cannot sit exams in the November 2020 series, we would work with schools to switch worldwide to the ‘assessed grade’ methodology, similar to the June 2020 series.
Our key priorities remain the same - to keep students and teachers safe, and help students get on with their educational journeys as soon as possible.
FAQs:
Will Cambridge run exams for countries that can hold them, and assessed grades in countries that cannot?
We will only run one system.
What will happen if students cannot sit exams but Cambridge is running exams in other countries?
In that case, we will ask students to defer to the next exam series.
What about private candidates who missed exams in June 2020?
Many private candidates will take exams in November, where possible. Some of them deferred entry from June. We are finalising contingency plans to support private candidates in the unlikely event that exams cannot take place.
Syllabus-specific advice for the November 2020 series
We realise many schools are now considering how to manage coursework requirements for syllabuses in the November 2020 series.
For some coursework, speaking and practical components, you will be able to adjust the way you teach the course or administer the test to meet the requirements of the component. This applies to the components listed in this document.
Visit our updated Help page for more information.
We know there are also coursework, speaking and practical components that your candidates may not be able to complete according to the syllabus requirements under these unusual circumstances. For these components, and where it is still possible for candidates to meet all the assessment objectives, we have processes to reward candidates fairly. We will be sharing information about how we will manage these components in our next update.
Survey for schools on June 2020 series
We would really like to hear your feedback and experiences of the June 2020 assessment process. If you haven’t had a chance to complete our short survey yet on behalf of your school, please do so. It will be open until midnight (BST) on 19 July. It should only take about 10 minutes and will help us learn more about your experiences, so that we can seek to improve our processes and communications where necessary.
Staying in touch
You can find all our advice on our website. If you have any questions, you can review our frequently asked questions, or contact us via our help section.
We wish everyone in the Cambridge International community well at this time.