What is a staged assessment?

The curriculum to be studied for most Cambridge International A/AS Level syllabuses includes the curriculum to be covered for a Cambridge International AS Level in the same subject. The AS Level syllabus covers about half of the material of the A Level syllabus. The part of the A Level syllabus which is not included in the AS Level syllabus is sometimes referred to as the ‘A2’ syllabus because it is usually covered in the second year of a two-year A Level course.

Candidates may either take an AS Level examination in a subject where it is available as an end in itself or as an intermediate examination halfway to A Level. It is not compulsory to take the AS Level examination prior to taking the A Level in any particular subject.

'A2' does not exist as a qualification. Candidates who have studied the 'A2' part of an A Level syllabus must enter for the full A Level. However, if they have already taken the AS Level papers in a previous series they need not take them again but may carry forward their result, subject to the arrangements described below.

Subject to the requirements of the particular A Level syllabus, candidates may use an award in an AS Level syllabus in June 2023 towards the award of an A Level in the same subject in November 2023 and/or June 2024. Similarly, candidates may use an award in an AS Level syllabus in November 2023 towards the award of an A Level in the same subject in June 2024 and/or November 2024.

Schools entering candidates for A Level in these subjects in June 2023 and/or November 2023 are required to state, by means of an entry option, for each student for each syllabus, whether:

(a) the candidate is taking all the required components for the A Level award concurrently and no previous AS Level results are to be considered

(b) the candidate is taking all the required components for the A Level award concurrently but the candidate has also taken the AS Level in the same subject within the previous 13 months. AS Level awards obtained more than 13 months previously may not be counted towards the award of an A Level. In this case, Cambridge will then count the best possible A Level result that the candidate can obtain by considering all the valid combinations of AS level results and the A2 taken in the current series

(c) the candidate is taking only the 'A2' components of the A Level in the current series and the AS Level award was obtained in the same subject within the previous 13 months. AS Level awards obtained more than 13 months previously may not be counted towards the award of an A Level.

It is not possible to carry forward an AS Level award to series more than 13 months later, or to carry forward a result in an individual component unless it constitutes a full AS Level award.

Schools that would like Cambridge to consider candidates’ AS Level results from previous series must include for each candidates, details of the series, the centre number and the student number that they were entered under at the time of the AS award.

Cambridge International A/AS Level staged assessments will not be available in languages other than English, or in certain subjects that do not have a Cambridge International AS Level syllabus.

The instructions and regulations detailed above also apply to Professional Qualification timetabled question paper modules.