In the light of the pandemic and rising COVID positive cases in India, the government has decided to cancel class X exams and postponed Class XII Board exams. The fresh dates for class XII exams will be announced on or after June 1, 2021 (after assessment of the situation). While some cheer with delight, others are not so happy about it. Students who were planning to study abroad after finishing their high-school seem to have an additional apprehension on how they would submit their scores in time, especially where conditional offers apply.
Their heightened sense of worry is understandable and justified, as things look a bit uncertain at this time. Since the academic sessions in most of the popular destinations such as the US, UK, Canada, etc., begin in the month of September/October, students are normally expected to submit their documents and complete all formalities by May. But, with the delay in exams, it appears that they would not be able to submit their final year scores in time and it might affect their admittance to the universities applied. Need not worry.
Though the situation is challenging, countries like the US, UK, Canada, etc. have extended relaxations to students for the academic session which is to begin in the month of September/October this year. Also, because foreign students form the major chunk of their classes, universities would not let go of Indian students—since they are an important asset to these universities. Hence, the students are advised not to panic, rather focus their energies on preparing for the exams ahead.
It has also been observed that the universities, at times, provide conditional offers to students and confirm their admittance only after Board exam results. With the delay in exams, the results are expected to get delayed, which means that students would be able to submit these documents only later. However, there are some universities which might ask you for your first-term and mid-term grades to evaluate your performance and give you an extension based on it before allowing you to submit your final scorecard later. Given the current circumstances and prevalence of the ongoing pandemic, the universities will be flexible in the application procedure this year; they will push forward their decision and admission timelines.
However, some of the universities follow a direct offer system which is not heavily based on grades, with those universities you should not have a problem as they are well aware of the problems students are going through this year. All things considered the impact is not as severe as one would think. In any case, IB and IGCSE students normally take their exams from May-July. While the students studying in IB schools rejoice on the cancellation of the exam this year, for the students of the IGCSE board the admission process remains the same. As far as students of the IB board are concerned, their annual performance would be taken into account. Given the availability of this facility for the students studying in these Boards, students giving CBSE exams can request an extension on submission of XII report card.
Further, it would give some respite to your nerves to know that, according to statistics, roughly about 7.50 lakh Indian students study abroad every year, with 1.90 lakh pursuing their higher education from universities in the US alone. The education sector relies heavily on international students in these countries, and, therefore, they would not want to lose out on incoming students.
In a nutshell, students must not get anxious about the postponed Board exams and, be rest assured that most of the universities and colleges have relaxed requirements and made additional accommodations to suit the needs of the incoming batch in the wake of the pandemic.