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Introduction

This website has been written to provide you with access to all the information and documentation you will need to organise and run IGCSE examinations successfully. Please familiarise yourself with the various pages and make a note of key dates and deadlines.

It is essential that you respect our internal deadlines and take responsibility for your centre.  Please remember that ASIBA has become an Associate of CIE to help schools by reducing the costs associated with running IGCSEs.  ASIBA is a not-for-profit organisation and all proceeds received through administrative fees are used to support the Option internationale du baccalauréat (OIB).  The support we offer is voluntary and offered by people who already have their own pupils, classes, schools and examination centres to manage.

Everything you need to know about running CIE examinations can be found in the Cambridge Handbook (International).  Particular areas to focus on include:

  • Timetabling of examinations
  • Access arrangements
  • Examination Security (click here for more information and a useful video tutorial)
  • Examination conduct

You should refresh your knowledge and understanding of these documents regularly.  Please refer to them if you have a question regarding the organisation of CIE examinations, before consulting ASIBA.

A number of administrative forms exist to cover a variety of eventualities that you might face when organising CIE examinations.  These include:

  • Requesting a timetable deviation or the use of an alternative venue to hold examinations
  • Declaring members of staff who have a child taking CIE examinations
  • Access arrangements, both centre-delegated and non-delegated
  • Missing, damaged or opened question paper packet
  • Late arrivals
  • Word processor cover sheet
  • Exam day – malpractice and special consideration etc

These forms can be downloaded here.

A number of online tutorials exist to support teachers organising CIE exams, and these can be viewed here.

For syllabus information including specimen papers and mark schemes, please go to CIE’s Teacher Support website. Please note that it is the individual school’s responsibility to ensure that the correct version, including the year and series, of the syllabus is administered for each series.

Cambridge fees for October 2022 – September 2023 can be downloaded here.

Cambridge fees for October 2023 – September 2024 can be downloaded here.

ASIBA also charges administrative fees (updated from September 2022).  These fees replace the Cambridge annual registration fee. The ASIBA administrative fee is capped at €1,500 for schools that are approved British OIB schools.

Please download our key dates and deadlines.

Please ensure you respect our internal deadlines.  We recommend that you submit your entries at least one week before the deadline to give yourself time to make any last minute amendments to syllabus options and candidate details.

Late entry fees will be applied to all entries made after the CIE deadlines.

ASIBA reserves the right to terminate a school’s membership of the ASIBA associate if deadlines are not met.

Access arrangements exist in order to enable students with additional educational needs to demonstrate their true ability in standard assessments.

It is advisable to identify candidates with additional educational needs at the beginning of the course so you can put in place measures to support them throughout the course.

Examples of access arrangements include:

  • extra time
  • use of a word processor
  • a reader or scribe
  • supervised rest breaks etc

Access arrangements must be declared to Cambridge using Preparation – Form 1

Please see Section 1 of the Cambridge Handbook for more information about access arrangements.  An additional specific guide to applying for access arrangements can also be downloaded here.

All applications for access arrangements, both non-delegated and centre-delegated, must be sent to Gilly Anderson (ganderson@britishsection.fr) by the dates mentioned in our key dates and deadlines document.

Please note that all applications relating to access arrangements must be accompanied by supporting medical / professional evidence and that this must be translated into English.  This information must be kept on file in the school and may be requested by Cambridge at any time.

The timetables of CIE examinations are published on the CIE website.  To maintain the security of examinations taken throughout the world, CIE produce timetables and question papers for different areas of the world, known as ‘administrative zones’. France is in administrative zone 3.

Download examination timetables here.

When timetabling the exams in your centre, it is important to take account of the Key Time, when CIE requires all candidates to be under Full Centre Supervision.  To find out the Key Time, click here.

To find out more about how to use the Key Time when timetabling examinations in your centre, please see Section 4 of the Cambridge Handbook.

  1. Making entries: enter candidates through CIE Direct.  Please consult the Cambridge Guide to Making Entries (which can be downloaded from CIE Direct – click on the Support materials tab and search for the document entitled Guide to Making Entries) to ensure that the information you provide is correct. Download some additional guidance notes. Useful online tutorials can also be found here.
  2. Forecast grades: please enter forecast grades via CIE Direct by 31st March.
  3. Internally assessed marks: please enter internally assessed marks via CIE Direct by 31st March.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL to jcathcart@britishsection.fr EVERY TIME YOU MAKE AN ENTRY OR MODIFICATION THROUGH CIE DIRECT. Always include your centre number in the subject line of the email.

Can schools make amendments to their final entries?

CIE will accept entry amendments provided that the appropriate late entry fees are paid (if amendments are submitted after the final entry deadline), until the following dates:

• 11 March for May exam series (Checkpoint)
• 17 April for June exam series (General Qualifications)
• 16 September for October exam series (Checkpoint)
• 21 September for November exam series (General Qualifications)

CIE cannot guarantee to accept entries or amendments after these dates because there may not be sufficient time to provide schools with the question papers and administrative documents required to conduct the exams. Any requests after these dates will be dealt with as very late entries on a case by case basis.

Amendments to syllabus entries and/or options that are received after the closing date for entries are subject to a late entry fee. You can find details of the late entry fee rates in the Fees List available on the Fees section of the ASIBA website.

How do I make amendments to final entries?

CIE Direct will show all final entries submitted by your school. Amendments to entries can be made at any time before the final entry deadline. After the deadline, any amendments will incur a late fee. For more information on these fees, please refer to the relevant fees list.

If you need to make amendments to your final entries please follow the instructions below:

If you have submitted your entries online using the entries dashboard on CIE Direct, you can make the required changes online and submit the amendments to Cambridge on the ‘Amendments to Submit’ tab. Any amendments will need to be approved by ASIBA so please send an email to jcathcart@britishsection.fr alerting him to the pending modifications.

Can I make late entries or amendments?

CIE will charge late entry fees for any entries received after the final entry closing date. Late entry fees will also be charged for changes to entry options (entry amendments) received after the final entry deadline. For more details of the fees that apply to late entries, please refer to the relevant fees list.

How do I confirm my entries are correct?

You can check your entries are correct using CIE Direct. Click on Administer Exams and then Reports and you will be able to see all entries that your school has made. CIE Direct will be updated approximately 24 to 48 hours after your entries have been processed.

Important: The student name shown on their Statement of Entry is the name that will be printed on statements of results and final certificates. It is important that students confirm that the name shown is in the correct format at this stage. We charge an administrative fee for making amendments to certificates after they are produced. You must give students, including private candidates, the opportunity to check all details recorded on their Statement of Entry.

 

Click Samples database to find out:

  1. When and how to submit your marks for moderated coursework and non-coursework tests
  2. When and how to submit your candidates’ work
  3. Which forms to complete and return with your candidates’ work.
  4. For moderated coursework and non-coursework tests you need to submit the marks and a sample of your candidates’ work to Cambridge for external moderation. For examined coursework, you need to submit the work of all of your candidates to Cambridge.

There is more information about coursework and non-coursework tests in section 3 of the Cambridge Handbook.

Examinations must be conducted according to the rules and regulations set out in the Cambridge Handbook.  See in particular Sections 4 and 5.

Preparing students

It is important that students know what is expected of them when sitting examinations.  In addition to distributing the Statements of Entry to students, we highly recommend you give students a timetable of their examinations which includes the following information:

  • Dates and precise local times of all examinations they are sitting
  • Assembly time and location

We also recommend you spend some time in class going through examination conduct.  A useful document that can be distributed to candidates is CIE’s Notice to Candidates.

Invigilation

All invigilators should receive training before invigilating CIE examinations.  For more information and resources including instructions to candidates, go to CIE’s website.

Despatching scripts

Please see section 5.4 of the Cambridge International Handbook for guidelines on returning scripts to Cambridge. In addition, you must complete an online ‘Script Return Form‘ for each batch of scripts you send so CIE can track them.

Results are published on 12th August (June session) and 21st January (November session).

Students can access their results through CIE’s online results website.  In order to do so, schools need to register their students with the online results website via CIE Direct and distribute login details.  More information about how to do this can be found here.

Schools can download their students’ results from CIE Direct on results day (CIE Direct > Administer Exams > File transfers).

Information to help you analyse your students’ results (including grade boundaries and examiners’ reports) can be downloaded from the Teacher Support website.

British examination boards provide an appeal system to enable schools to request a review of the marking process where a candidate’s result(s) fall below expectations.  A variety of options are available, from clerical checks to a re-mark of one or more scripts.  CIE charges for these services, although this is waived if the result changes following a re-mark.  Applications for post-results services are made by the school directly through their CIE Direct account.

ASIBA’s internal deadline for registering post-results enquiries on CIE Direct is 18th September (June session) and 1st February (November session).  We cannot guarantee that any requests submitted after this date will be processed.

More information about post-results enquiries, including an online tutorial, is available here.  The fees for post-results services can be found in the fees section of this website (see tab above left).

It is important to bear in mind that marks can be assessed downwards during a re-mark. Consequently, we highly recommend schools produce a re-mark policy that they share with parents and students and that schools seek parental permission before making enquiries about results.  An example of such a policy can be downloaded here.

For information about administering examinations, please contact Gilly Anderson at ganderson@britishsection.fr.

For questions about First Language English (0500) and English Literature (0486), please contact Xana Jones at xjones@britishsection.fr.

Schools that are approved to offer Cambridge qualifications can use the Cambridge International School logo on their website and stationery.

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