Pupils at UK curriculum schools in the UAE will be at a disadvantage if A-level results are downgraded this week, said headteachers.
A-level, or an equivalent qualification, is required for university entrance, and admission offers are based on grades achieved.
Enrolment in a good college may become difficult if pupils secure lower than expected results.
I am hoping they (examination boards) might already have learnt from the Scottish and the IB experience and are going to think carefully and get things right
This week, the Scottish Qualifications Authority lowered the National 5 of almost 125,000 pupils, which is the equivalent of A-levels qualification taken by pupils in Scotland.
Heads of schools in the UAE said they were concerned that results predicted by teachers may be similarly downgraded.
At Brighton College Abu Dhabi, 63 pupils expect to receive their results on Thursday.
“These things are handled at a UK level so I see no reason why it would be any different here,” said Simon Corns, headmaster at Brighton College Abu Dhabi.
“I am hoping they (examination boards) might already have learnt from the Scottish and the IB experience and are going to think carefully and get things right.
"Ideally, they should get it right from the start. If they do not, I am hoping for more clarity on the appeals procedure because they can rest assured that schools will fight very hard for justice for their pupils.
“The way they are likely to get things right is by listening to the schools and teachers who have made the assessments very carefully.
“We were extremely careful about producing predictions based on evidence and I hope the boards will listen to us.
“I am optimistic but I have some reservations about the statistical model one hears they are using.”
Mr Corns said he expected the results to be in line with the historical performance of the school.
"I am sure pupils will be concerned and are waiting to see what the situation actually is," he said.
"We submitted a great deal of information and if the boards have used it sensibly, then they ought to have arrived at accurate and rational conclusions."
Mr Corns said schools which performed poorly in the past but had a capable year group, or schools that were appearing for A-levels for the first time, will likely take a hit.
He urged the pupils to stay calm and keep the morale high.
"There is time for schools to appeal where necessary and let's hope the boards will be reasonable especially after the mistakes that were made in Scotland," he said.
Some schools are already consulting legal experts to see what the options are for challenging the exam boards so the situation is being taken very seriously
A-level and other external exams like the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme were cancelled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Instead, pupils were given their final scores based on predicted grades by teachers, their marks in different subjects and the school’s academic performance in the past.
The IB diploma and Career-related programme results, the equivalent of A-levels, were awarded to more than 170,000 pupils on July 6.
Thousands of IB pupils felt let down after they received lower than expected grades and appealed for reassessments.
Almost 22,000 pupils signed an online petition to dispute their scores, claiming they were an unfair reflection of their performance.
At the time, Jeff Evans from Learning Key Education Consultancy said A-level pupils could face the same situation as their grades would be estimated in a similar manner.
Fiona McKenzie, head of Carfax Education, an education consultancy in Dubai, said: “This is an incredibly stressful time for pupils and to have all of this uncertainty is very challenging.
“We have been working with all our pupils to plan for a best case and a worst case scenario so they can react quickly on the day.
“Given the reactions to the IB results and the recent Scottish results there is undeniably an expectation that pupils may not receive the grades that were predicted.
"Some schools are already consulting legal experts to see what the options are for challenging the exam boards so the situation is being taken very seriously.”
Simon Jodrell, principal, Dubai British School, said pupils at the school were hoping for positive results on Thursday.
“The estimated grades underwent a rigorous internal process at school level based on pupil performance over the two-year courses and a history of excellent results,” said Mr Jodrell.
“This gives us confidence that the examination boards will support results that reflect the hard work and effort of this year's cohort of pupils.
"We are comfortable and confident that the grades submitted accurately reflect individual performance in a given subject.
“Schools are able to appeal to the examination boards should they not support these anticipated outcomes."
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
More coverage from the Future Forum
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
More from Neighbourhood Watch
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
2019 ASIAN CUP FINAL
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nag%20Ashwin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrabhas%2C%20Saswata%20Chatterjee%2C%20Deepika%20Padukone%2C%20Amitabh%20Bachchan%2C%20Shobhana%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
