Heads in Middle East hit out at ‘incomprehensible’ grades

International schools in the Middle East have hit out at English exam boards, expressing their anger about the handling of the cancellation of exams because of the Iran war and the lack of transparency about exam results issued last month.

School leaders, as well as representative bodies, including the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and British Schools in the Middle East (BSME), say many of the international A-level and GCSE grades students have received “make no sense whatsoever”.

Their complaints relate to exam marks being significantly lower than expected, as well as others being markedly higher, and entire cohorts being impacted in a wide range of subjects, from biology to geography.

Exams were cancelled in countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after learning was moved online as the conflict involving the US and Israel against Iran escalated.

At the time, exam boards Cambridge International, AQA, OxfordAQA and Pearson said the students affected would be graded on existing work and portfolios of evidence.

But four international school school principals in the Middle East, speaking anonymously to Tes, have all flagged “very odd” results and raised questions about the assessment processes used to decide them.

International A-level and GCSE exams cancelled

One principal in Dubai told Tes that the processes put in place to assess students following the cancellation of exams had been “a mess from start to finish”.

Although the exams were cancelled, he said, students still had to sit papers so schools could meet the requirement of exam boards that evidence be “reflective of the whole course”.

This led to schools running their own exams - but in May instead of June due to evidence deadlines.

“We had to go back to parents and say, ‘We’re actually going to have to pretty much do exams but a month earlier,’” he explained.

Another leader in Bahrain said they were surprised to find that all components in an exam were assessed out of 30, even though the papers submitted were based on past marking assessments where, for example, 60 marks were available.

“We’re not happy with the way they did these evidence-based assessments. There’s not a lot of clarity or transparency about how those grades were awarded.”

Grades that ‘make no sense’

Now the results are in, the principal in Dubai said that “while the headlines look OK”, some grades “make no sense whatsoever”.

He said: “We’ve got children who for two years in assessments have always been getting grade 8s and 9s. We’ve submitted work saying they’re a 9 and they come out with a 6 overall.

“Then we’ve got other kids that we’ve submitted saying they are a grade 7 and they come out with an 8.

“You cannot figure out what the process is that they are applying to the evidence you submit.”

Meanwhile, the school leader in Bahrain said some grades were “pulled down quite considerably” while others were “pushed up considerably”.

“If we base [results] off our historical data and subjects, it doesn’t line up because there have been no massive changes in the teams that are teaching. It was very odd - there is no pattern emerging.”

Another leader in Dubai described the approach to grading as “a shambles”, saying that while many students did well, some of the grading was “incomprehensible”.

For instance, they said in 2024, 64 per cent of the cohort sitting GCSE English language achieved grade 9; in 2025, 65 per cent achieved a grade 9, but in 2026, just 25 per cent of the cohort did.

“The cohorts have not changed in ability on baseline data and the GCSE English literature results for the same class, with the same teacher, have not dropped.

“Where is the logic in that? It is utterly insane.”

Debra Forsyth, CEO and chair of BSME, acknowledged that the cancellation of the exams had not been easy for exam boards they had had “a lot thrown at them”, she said, including having to respond after Ofqual refused to accept alternative methods of assessment for UK A levels and GCSEs.

However, she told Tes that in some cases whole cohorts of students had ended up below where their school expected them to be, resulting in “a very, very large number of appeals”.

She said: “Grades do change normally - things do sometimes go wrong. What we have seen, though, is a huge increase in the number of requests for review.”

Colin Bell, chief executive of COBIS, echoed this, noting that while many students had progressed successfully, the organisation had “heard significant concerns from schools about outcomes which appear inconsistent with students’ expected performance and schools’ historic cohort performance, too”.

In some cases, he said, “concerns extend across entire cohorts, resulting in schools pursuing appeals on behalf of substantial numbers of students”.

Grades changed without school being told

Even where this year’s grades have been changed on review, the system has come under fire, with one head in Dubai saying that when their school challenged its English language results, nine students - around a quarter of the cohort - went up an entire grade.

However, this was only because an additional 5 per cent was applied via the special consideration process, which allows issues to be taken into account when a student’s performance is “materially affected by adverse circumstances”, including illness or bereavement or, in this case, a war.

The principal said: “Adding 5 per cent may correct an individual outcome, but it does not demonstrate that the methodology used to generate the original English language grade was valid.”

The school also only became aware that grades had been revised after a student got in touch to thank staff.

“That prompted our exams officer to log into the system, where we found the changes. We should not be relying on a 16-year-old student to tell us that an official GCSE grade has changed,” they said.

Defending the processes

Responding to the concerns raised by school leaders in the region, Cambridge International, the biggest provider of international A levels and GCSEs worldwide, maintained that it had “confidence in the awarded grades”.

Debbie Howes, director of assessment principles and communication, said it had taken the concerns raised by schools “very seriously”, and was “replying individually to every school… with a detailed response”.

It had also carried out “an extensive further review” of grades, she said.

However, Ms Howes said this had confirmed that grades “align correctly with the exam route and are valid and reliable” - an outcome, she noted, that some schools were still finding “challenging”.

She added: “Every assessment decision we make is guided by two clear principles: ensuring fair outcomes for all candidates, and ensuring that the grades we issue remain reliable and can always be trusted by external stakeholders.”

A spokesperson for OxfordAQA and AQA, meanwhile, said “robust alternative arrangements” had been put in place, that these were “developed quickly” in “close contact” with schools and, overall, grade outcomes were “broadly in line with previous years” and the feedback from schools had been “largely positive”.

The spokesperson said the exam boards had “a post-results and appeals process available for all schools to use if they wish to query results”

Similarly, Cambridge International said enquiries about results could be submitted “for individual candidates” - and that a reduced fee had been introduced, as well as a free retake option for the November 2026 or June 2027 exam series.

In its response, Pearson said its focus had “been on awarding grades consistently, based on the evidence available” but it also confirmed it was “completing additional reviews of marking within cohorts of students to ensure consistency” and it was “not charging for these reviews”.

The statement added: “An extended review is a standard process. Initially centres request reviews of marking for individual students and then - in the rare cases where a significant proportion of reviews change grades - we offer to initiate a full review of the centre’s cohort.”

Similarly, the spokesperson for OxfordAQA and AQA said the boards could undertake “additional review activity on a case-by-case basis” that extended beyond individual reviews.

However, BSME’s Forsyth urged exam boards to improve how they communicate with schools, that noting that this is too slow at present.

“The time it’s taking to get through queries and get back to schools, no one is happy with that. So anything that can be done to speed up the process would be a big help.”

And she said lessons would have to be learned going forward - the process had been “painful” at times for schools and students.

Bell, meanwhile, called for “transparency and consistency”, saying that appeals must be dealt with “swiftly”.

He said: “Where an outcome does not fairly reflect a student’s performance, there needs to be a clear and effective route to put that right. Above all, students should not be disadvantaged because of circumstances entirely beyond their control.”

A letter from COBIS, also signed by BSME, HMC and the Association of British Schools Overseas (AoBSO), has also been sent to Ucas raising the issues that schools have seen amid concerns that these have affected some students’ university destinations.

“We are aware of individual cases where students have lost, or had changes made to, university offers, including at highly selective institutions,” it reads.

“We are also aware of a case where an incorrect grade was initially transmitted to a university, meaning that the institution’s original admissions decision was not based on the student’s actual results.”

British education losing its shine?

Overall, it is clear that many principals in the Middle East believe the situation has the potential to undermine faith in the exams being used and that overarching reform is needed.

One principal said there is a “more fundamental question” that needs to be answered about “whether the process which produced the original outcomes was fair, transparent and appropriate”.

“As a principal, I cannot accept a process which risks putting young people’s futures at stake without schools being able to understand clearly how those outcomes have been reached.”

Another principal called for a “no detriment review”, adding: “Fundamentally I want the right results for the right kids.”

He also predicted that schools in the region - which traditionally work with a number of exam boards - are likely now to move to just one to streamline how they might have to respond to any future incidents of this nature.

“There’s going to be more war, there’s going to be more pandemics in the world, there’s going to be more climate-based issues. I’m almost certain I’m going to have to deal with [cancelled exams] again in my career at some point.”

What’s more, another leader said the situation could also cause schools to leave British qualifications entirely and move to, most likely, the International Baccalaureate, which went through the similar process of having to process grades through other assessment methods without such dramas.

Ultimately, he said, the problems reflect badly on British qualifications and “on the British education system in general”.