ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has said that Cambridge International has agreed to review its grading procedures regarding recently declared CIE results for O’ and A’ Levels after an outcry from Pakistani students who felt they were unfairly graded.

“As a result of our intervention conveying the anguish of our students, I have just heard that Cambridge has agreed to review its grading procedure regarding the recently declared results,” Mahmood said in a post on Twitter. He added that Cambridge International will announce its final verdict on the matter after review on Tuesday.

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Cambridge International had cancelled its May/June 2020 series worldwide with the announcement to award certificates without exams.

The CAIE followed a four-step assessment mechanism which included teachers’ predicted grades, ranking order, school review/approval and standardisation. However, after the results were announced, students started raising concerns as they got grades against their expectations and previous performance. In its statement issued on Friday, Cambridge International said it had been listening to feedback and suggestions from schools and students and had been “looking carefully at how to act on it.” “Since we released our results on August 11, we’ve been listening to the feedback and suggestions from our schools and students. We know schools have been pleased that we were able to provide grades in challenging circumstances,” it said.

It added, “We have also heard your concerns about some aspects of our process, and we understand the real anxieties Cambridge students are facing at the moment. We have been looking carefully at how to act on your feedback, and at the same time make sure schools, universities and employers continue to trust our qualifications.”

“On Tuesday, August 18, we will let you know the actions we will take,” it added. A day earlier the federal minister had said the government had decided to approach the British Council, Cambridge, and the British High Commission over the unfair grading in O’ and A’ level results of Pakistani students. The minister had said the Pakistani students appearing in the Cambridge exams had largely been graded unfairly, which had spoiled their hard work. “We are approaching the British High Commission and British Council to address this serious miscarriage of justice and hopefully, a redressal mechanism would be found out,” Mahmood had said during a private news channel programme.