THE Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) examinations held in May and June this year have been nothing short of a tumultuous experience for students, teachers and parents alike; parents because they put down their hard-earned cash for the Cambridge tag, students because they went all in to ace their exams to secure university admissions, and teachers because they tirelessly taught and helped students prepare for their exams. Unfortunately, all this went in vain due to the actions of a few stakeholders.

Across the series, a number of exam papers got leaked, with Mathematics and Computer Science being the most widespread. Pure Algebra Paper 1 (P1) and Mechanics 1 (M1) papers were actually available on various online platforms, including Reddit and Discord. In 2024, P1 paper was leaked the night before the exam, raising questions on CAIE’s security protocols.

Still, students went through their exams, hoping that the CAIE would address their plight and devise a concrete solution. However, Cambridge’s response has been underwhelming; like putting a band-aid on a dam crack.

It started off with the assertion that there was no evidence of a leak, followed by calling a few questions ‘affected’, implying that there was a partial leak. The so-called ‘affected’ questions would be marked correct, meaning those who got them wrong in the exam would gain an unfair advantage.

This is sheer injustice. Students are denied a chance to reappear in the October/November session, forcing them to accept whatever grade the CAIE gives them. The issue is not about whether a single question or the complete paper was leaked; it is a matter of principles. The sanctity of the paper is to be guarded, and no one should get a whiff of the cover paper. Is it really fitting for Cambridge to address the problem casually and blatantly, considering what is at stake?

Ramish Abad
Lahore

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2025