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Advice for Centres regarding severe weather, political unrest and natural disasters

The safety of candidates and centre staff is the most important thing. You should follow any advice issued by the relevant authorities in your country regarding school closure.

Timetable Deviations

If it is not safe to run exams in the timetabled session, you can apply for candidates to take the exam at another time, as long as it is no more than 24 hours after the published timetable date. Apply for timetable deviations using the Timetable Deviation and Additional Sessions: Preparation – Form 2 which can be found here. You must never conduct exams on an earlier day than the timetable date.

Candidates must be kept under supervision from the scheduled Key Time until the start of the deviated exam. Supervision arrangements must adhere to the guidelines in section 1.2 of the Cambridge Handbook.

We reserve the right to not accept scripts from a re-scheduled exam if there is evidence that the security of the exam has been breached.

Alternative Venues

If it is not safe to conduct exams in your exam venue, you can apply to conduct them in an alternative venue by submitting Entries – Form 5.

Question Papers

If it is not safe to access question papers from your secure storage facilities, please email info@cambridgeinternational.org or telephone +44 1223 553554. We may be able to send your question papers electronically.

Special Consideration

If the circumstances mean a candidate is unable to attend an exam or completes the exam but has been adversely affected by the situation, you can apply for special consideration.

Apply for special consideration through Cambridge International Direct or by submitting Exam Day – Form 7, which is available from the Support Materials section of Direct. We review all applications on a case by case basis.

Late Arrivals

If candidates arrive late please follow the guidance in the Cambridge Handbook on Late Arrivals. Candidates must be supervised from the key time by a parent or guardian until they have reached the examination room, you would also need to complete a Candidate Supervision Declaration form

Candidate Scripts

If local courier services are disrupted or delayed, store answer scripts securely at your centre until the courier confirms they can despatch the scripts. Do not allow the courier to store the scripts.

Please let us know about any delays in returning scripts.

Store any unopened question paper packets securely at your centre until after the exam series.

Administrative Forms

Send any forms by email to info@cambridgeinternational.org for the attention of the Compliance department. Attached centres must send forms to their Cambridge Associate.

This advice may change as the situation develops. Please keep us informed of your plans and any developments.

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