Revised A-Level Grades to be Released

PETALING JAYA: The revised A-Level grades for the June 2020 batch of the examination will not be lower than the grades submitted by their schools and colleges. And, where a grade was higher than the predicted grade, the higher grade will stand. Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE), which posted this update on their website on Monday, announced that new grades would be issued as soon as possible. Schools will be updated on the process.

"We have decided that grades we issue for the June 2020 series will not be lower than the predicted grade submitted by the school. Where a grade we issued last week was higher than the predicted grade, the higher grade will stand. We will also share the new grades with universities and admissions organisations as soon as we can in the coming days," they said.

They further said the new grades would be posted on Cambridge International Direct. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambridge cancelled sit-down final exams for the June 2020 series. Instead, students were graded based on their work, mock exam results, teacher assessments and other factors.

Last week, we acknowledged the plight of disappointed students who received their results on Aug 11. It is estimated that 3,000 Malaysians had sat for the exams and like their global counterparts, they were upset that their results had been downgraded. This led to a petition launched on change.org for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene for the UK’s A-Level and General Certificate of Secondary Education results. The petition had garnered over 200,000 signatures.

"It is important to us that Cambridge students can compete on an equal basis with students who have similar national or international qualifications, and that their hard work and achievements are compared fairly. We fully recognize the urgent and practical need to help Cambridge students’ progress with their education and their lives," CAIE posted after viewing the petition.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities (MAPCU) deputy president Dr Pradeep Nair said that the association was grateful that the CAIE had listened to feedback on the grades and that MAPCU is thankful that students who have already received offers into universities based on the predicted grades will now be able to begin their degree studies uninterrupted.