Update for Cambridge schools on the series for 2020 and 2021 - 17 September 2020

17 Sep 2020

Today’s update includes a final reminder on the deadline for appeals for the June 2020 series.

It also contains some further information on the November 2020 series, as well as the March and June 2021 exam series, in particular on adaptations to syllabuses.

We are very grateful to you for working patiently with us through this challenging period. We encourage you to keep in touch with us if you have questions or would like advice.

Today’s update starts with some information on training available to schools. See the ‘support for schools’ section below.

Support for schools

Great Teaching Toolkit webinars

Many Cambridge schools and teachers have engaged with the Great Teaching Toolkit – Evidence Review that we published in June this year.

In the next few weeks, we will be hosting two webinars for teachers with Professor Rob Coe about his findings on what makes great teaching. The two webinars will cover the same content but will be at different times of day to cater for different time zones.

Further details will be shared in the coming days.

June 2020 series

Appeals – final reminder of deadlines

For the June 2020 series, you can request three types of Stage 1 appeal. Appeals can be requested for individual candidates, or for a group of candidates. Remember to submit any appeal by the deadline:

You can find more information about appeals on our website: www.cambridgeinternational.org/appeals

If you work with us through another organisation, such as the British Council, you should send your completed forms to them. They will send them to us.

November 2020 series

Special consideration supplement

We know that many of you have questions about special consideration for the November 2020 series. To support you, we have created a special consideration supplement, which contains extra information and should help to answer your questions. Due to the changes we have made because of Covid-19, you should use this supplement, rather than section 5.5 of the Cambridge Handbook, when deciding whether you should apply for special consideration for your candidates.

November 2020 entry deadlines

Given the challenges of sending question papers to schools during the pandemic, we would kindly request that you submit your entries to us by the deadlines below, or earlier wherever possible:

First-time entries:

• 21 September, 23:59 GMT/UTC (UK centres only – the deadline of 16 August for schools outside the UK has now passed)

Retake entries:

• 21 September, 23:59 GMT/UTC (international and UK centres)

Changing entry options for November 2020 - amendment fee reminder

If you have had to change entry options for November 2020 because of Covid-19 (as per our guidance) – for example, to change from a Cambridge IGCSE science practical to an ‘alternative to practical’ component – you can contact us to ask us not to charge an amendment fee. You will need to do this as soon as possible, and no later than 21 September. If you still need to make any changes to entry options, please also do this before the 21 September and let us know.

March and June 2021 series

Adjustments to components for March and June 2021 – reminder

On Monday 7 September, we published new web pages with component adjustments and guidance for March and June 2021 exams. For the components included, we have provided general guidance to help teachers and students adapt to the current circumstances, and for some syllabuses there are details of specific adjustments to the requirements of the component. Where specific adjustments are available, schools will need to apply for permission to use them before the exam or before submitting work.

We have produced an overview document so that you can identify the level of support available for each syllabus.

You can find more information on the June 2021 Covid information and March 2021 (India only) sections of our website.

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 website.

We wish everyone in the Cambridge International community well at this time.