LAHORE: As many as 30,000 students in Pakistan received their Cambridge International O Level, Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge ICE results for the 2021 exams on Tuesday.

The students took the exams in June 2021 in Pakistan. The number includes those who sat the replacement exams in July and August, which were put in place after their original exams were stopped in May/June.

According to Cambridge International, this year it ran exams globally for its June 2021 series only where it was safe and was permitted to do so.

In Pakistan, the decision was made to stop the exams earlier this year to keep the students safe, following a surge in the Covid-19 cases at that time.

The Cambridge International engaged with the government, education authorities, and schools across Pakistan to find a solution to this pressing problem. It agreed to offer replacement exams for 14 of the most popular Cambridge O Level and IGCSE subjects taken by a majority of year 11 students in Pakistan so that they could complete their studies in these subjects, before starting their next school year.

Cambridge International Chief Executive Christine Özden congratulated all of the students studying under the system in Pakistan on receiving their Cambridge International O Level and IGCSE results.

“This is a fantastic achievement, and more so this year than any other as these students have had to overcome the many challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic,” added Özden.

She said these results were a testament to the students’ resilience and dedication to their studies over the past year. All of them should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved, she added.

Cambridge International Country Director for Pakistan Uzma Yousuf said she was delighted to see the achievements of the students who received their results.

“It has been yet another challenging year for everyone. The policymakers had some very difficult choices to make, and we all tried our best to work out ways of holding exams safely so that Cambridge students could continue their education journey,” she said.

The replacement exams were held following strict standard operating procedures. These included staff thoroughly sanitising the exam halls before and after each exam and making sure that everyone inside the exam venues wore a face mask and followed strict social distancing.

Students who were unable to take exams of some subjects in June would sit those exams in November exams series. They also have an option to sit these exams in any future Cambridge exams series.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2021