UAE students ace A-Level and IGSCE exams

Dubai - The UK government cancelled the usual GCSEs and A-level exams this year because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The latest A-Levels and IGCSE exam results are out — and UAE students got ‘impressive’ scores, school heads reported on Thursday.

Students in Years 11, 12 and 13 received either final grades or modular results on Thursday across subjects like Arabic, English, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, mathematics and statistics. These results (A-Levels and AS-Levels) can be used for getting into universities in the future.

The UK government cancelled the usual GCSEs and A-level exams this year because of Covid-19 restrictions, so several international boards held modular exams in January for IGCSEs and international A-levels.

Two Brighton College Dubai pupils achieved a 100 per cent Grade 9 (A*). Simon Crane, headmaster of the school, said: “I am incredibly proud of the achievements of our first GCSE pupils who have exceeded their targets. Given the worldwide exam uncertainty, this year has been a demanding one and we do not underestimate the amount of effort that has been required from both pupils and teachers who have had to adapt to a fluid learning style.”

IGCSE is equivalent to the GCSE qualification for which students appear in the exams in Years 10 and 11, while an A-level is a qualification offered across different subjects to students in Years 12 and 13.

Matthew Tompkins, principal and CEO of GEMS FirstPoint School–The Villa, said results at their school turned up with a large number of excellent individual outcomes, including students with straight A and A* grades. There were also pupils “who didn’t drop a single mark on their exam paper”.

“Our school is fully inclusive, offering a wide range of courses for all student interests, and we celebrate the progress that all our students make. We are so proud of them all,” Tompkins said.

Gemma Thornley, secondary principal of GEMS Wellington Academy–Al Khail, congratulated students for a job well done. “Results days are always a nervous time for students, their families and schools, but in these unprecedented times, the nerves are even more heightened. We are therefore delighted with the results received today by our maths, statistics, economics and business students. They have certainly shown that hard work pays off and we are so proud of them.”

At GEMS Cambridge International School, 269 students received grades, showing ‘notable performance’ in all subject areas. In Year 11 IGCSE mathematics, out of 145 students who took the exam, 87 per cent got a 9-4 grade; 77 per cent achieved grades 9-5; 63 per cent of students, grades 9-7; 35 per cent, grades 9-8; and a 18 per cent achieving the top grade 9.

nandini@khaleejtimes.com