Over 40,000 students in Pakistan received their AS & A Level results last week, the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) said in a press release Monday.

The students, from over 250 schools across the country, made more than 100,000 entries in June. Entries refer to the number of times students appeared for an exam.

This is almost double the size of the number of papers for which students appeared in June last year, when Covid-19 restrictions caused around 50 per cent of students to defer their exams to the November 2021 series.

Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry were the most popular subjects this year.

Cambridge International, part of the University of Cambridge and the largest provider of international education for 5 to 19-year-olds globally, released the results on Thursday.

“Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, exams went ahead in nearly all countries this year, with more than 220,000 students making entries for Cambridge International AS & A Level in the June 2022 series. Globally, 95% of Cambridge students took exams in June 2022, compared with 75% in June 2021. Where exams could not go ahead because of local Covid-19 restrictions, Cambridge International provided an alternative assessment, marked by Cambridge examiners,” it said.

More than 460,000 students from 147 countries got the results for the 1.4 million exams/papers that they took.

Cambridge International Chief Accountable Officer Christine Özden acknowledged that students were affected by school closure and restrictions as the pandemic continued to disrupt lives while lauding the students for their hard work.

“They [students] have shown great resilience and dedication to get to this point, and I am proud of everyone’s achievements. They can now progress to new opportunities and experiences, and I’m confident they have the skills, knowledge and courage to succeed in every choice they make.

Uzma Yousuf, the Pakistan head of Cambridge International also lauded the students for their hard work and perseverance.

“I also laud the efforts of school leaders and parents who made it possible for their children to continue their education without any hinderance and helped them to sit for exams and gain their qualifications. This sense of collaboration motivated us to work on making exams safe and provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their attainment through proper exams after two years of Covid-19 related interruptions.”

Cambridge IGCSE and O Level results will be released on 18 August.