Cambridge results: Record setting year for Pakistanis

Highest-ever number of students sat for the exams this year

ISLAMABAD: Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) announced O’ and A’ Level results on Thursday.

Schools in Pakistan made over 270,000 entries for Cambridge qualifications this year, an increase of seven per cent over last year. The names of high achievers across the world will be announced in January after detailed analysis of the results.



“More students than ever before collected their CIE results today, as entries for Cambridge qualifications continue to grow in Pakistan and around the world,” said CIE Country Director Uzma Yousuf Zaka.

Entries for O’ Level increased by five per cent from 154,137 in 2014-15 to 162,208 in 2015-16 and entries for  A’ Level increased by  eight percent  from 84,365 to 91,094, the CIE Pakistan office told The Express Tribune.

The popularity of Cambridge IGCSE is also growing in Pakistan, with entries increasing by 16 per cent this year, going up from 10,364 in 2014-15 to 12,019 this year.

Globally there has been 10 percent growth in entries across all Cambridge qualifications this year, including 11 per cent growth in entries for Cambridge International A Levels and 8 per cent for Cambridge IGCSE.

Schools in Islamabad offering O’ and A’ levels programmes said they were satisfied with the result.



We had the best results this year, said Fahim Khan, Principal of Headstart, Senior Branch, F-8/4. About 330 students had appeared in the exam, and of them, over 100 were high achievers with more than three As. The students mostly secured As and A* in science subjects, economics and math, he said.

We have regular, foreign qualified and committed teaching staff, he said, and we try to create a positive relationship between students and teachers besides striking a balance between cocurricular and academic activities.

Natalia Ahsan, the best academic student who secured five straight As in A Level in the school said the best part was that the teachers were always available to them and she did not have to do extra efforts in the exams or go to tuition centers.

Roots IVY International Schools CEO Khadija Mushtaq said her students earned over 1,200 As in IGCSE, O’ Levels, and A’ Levels.



The most notable among the O Level/IGCSE high achiever was Rida Shahid of DHA campus with 5 A* and 5 As, which is a phenomenal achievement, she said.

Saifur Rehman and Babar Mushtaq from Roots IVY Chaklala Scheme III excelled by attaining 9 A*s in IGCSE. other notable IGCSE high achievers with 9 As include Babar Mustafa, Haiqa Kamran, Tallina Talle, Saifur Rehman, Umer Sadiq, Humna Rehman, Muhammad Hassan Malik, and Ali Mustafa Khatai.

Tallina Talle attributed her success to her teachers and parents who made her work hard and opined that “if you work hard, you don’t need any tuition academies”.

The A’ level results included Muhammad Afaaq, Muhammad Haisam Azhar and Arham Hameed from different campuses achieves 6 straight As.

Islamabad College of Arts and Sciences (ICAS) Principal Nusrat Tahir also said praised her students, noting that they achieved 46 A*s, 100 As, and 121 Bs in O’ Levels, and 5 A*s, 60 As, and 55 Bs in A-Levels.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2016.