PMLN leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif, lawyer and rights activists Jibran Nasir and others have voiced support for A-Levels students who have been expressing their dismay at being awarded lower grades in 2023 by Cambridge International Education (CIE). The students also complained of unfair rescheduling of their exam day owing to political unrest across the country.

Students say the examinations were cancelled due to the violent protests on May 9, 10, 11 and 12, and that they were not provided with appropriate options to appear in the examinations in the later days.

The educational activities were suspended in most parts of the country after violent riots broke out following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan from court premises on May 9.

The AS and A-Level results of Cambridge International Education were announced on August 10 with IGCSE and O-Level results scheduled to be announced next week.

The students were asked to either cancel their registration of May and June and take the exams in October and November or get an expected grade that came under special consideration, Hashir Javaid, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Another option was to give one of the two exams that were cancelled and grade will be assessed on that but not all of the students were eligible for that. Cambridge just decided we weren’t eligible because they didn’t wanna do any extra work,” he wrote on X.

Under to CIE examination system, candidates cannot reuse coursework from a previous exam series. Therefore, candidates who withdraw from the June 2023 series and re-enter a later series will be required to submit new coursework for their new entry.

Expressing her support for the students, PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz Sharif urged the CIE to review the grading system for students who took their examinations in 2023 after countless students complained that they were given lower grades.

“Many hundreds have reached out voicing their dissatisfaction with the CIE grading this year,” she wrote on X.

Maryam endorsed the view that the grading was unfair towards Pakistani students.

“It appears that the grading this year has produced unfair results which has led to severe unrest & anxiety amongst the students. Expected A*s have ended up with Cs & Es. These students have worked incredibly hard, their university offers and future careers are dependent on the discretion that CIE exercises,” she added.

“It would be a welcome step if the CIE on grounds of fairness reviewed their grading system for this year.

In addition, the CIE should also consider the fact that Pakistani students sat their examination in times of unprecedented political turmoil where their security and safety were at risk. Kudos to all students who remained committed and still gave their best,“ the PML-N leader stated.

Malik Shehroze Iftikhar said that the overall threshold of most subjects was kept extremely high due to which several candidates failed to secure the desired grades.

“It’s not only about the cancelled papers (even though the situation of those subjects were mostly the worst), the overall threshold of most subjects were kept so extremely high, that most of the students in my college received D’s and E’s, for example in Business,” he added.

Another candidate complained of an unfair schedule, saying that they had to appear in three examinations on the same day.

Social activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir also joined the debate regarding the candidates’ complaints over the grading system in 2023.

“#Cambridge Exams. Since last night my WhatsApp has been flooded with messages and calls from students sharing grievances about the grading of their #Alevels exams apparently those which were cancelled due to the unrest caused on 9th May. Some of the messages were really distressing and worrying and I hope @CambridgeInt @pkBritish take notice,” he said.

He advised the students to raise their grievances effectively so one can determine if they are genuine and act accordingly to address their problems.