UAE Exam Cancellations 2026: Complete Guide to New Grading Rules and What Students Need to Know Now

Why Were UAE Exams Cancelled in 2026?

The cancellations trace back to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran regional conflict, which has forced UAE schools onto distance learning for an extended stretch of weeks. With students unable to sit in exam halls, boards have had to make a call — and one by one, every major board operating in the UAE has made the same one.

This isn’t a situation where a single board blinked and others followed reluctantly. The disruption has been sustained enough that by the time OxfordAQA announced on 2 April 2026, it was the last domino in a line that had already fallen for IB, Cambridge, Pearson Edexcel, CBSE, and CISCE.

The result is unprecedented. This is the first academic year where essentially every international curriculum in the UAE is moving to an alternative assessment process simultaneously. How each board handles it differs. But the destination is the same: no written exams, grades from existing evidence.

Quick Summary: Every Board at a Glance

Here’s the short version before we go into detail. Every board below has officially cancelled or disrupted its UAE exams for the 2026 cycle.

Board	Exams Affected	Alternative Method
Cambridge (CAIE)	IGCSE, O Level, AS & A Level, IPQ — June 2026 Cancelled	Portfolio of evidence (3 pieces per subject), externally marked by Cambridge
IB	All May 2026 final exams Cancelled	Non-Exam Contingency Measure (NECM) — coursework, predicted grades, internal assessments
Pearson Edexcel	IGCSE and International A-Level — May/June 2026 Cancelled	Alternative assessment route; full framework from Pearson pending
OxfordAQA	IGCSE and International A-Level — Summer 2026 Cancelled	Portfolio submission; OxfordAQA examiners grade externally
CBSE	Grade 10 and Grade 12 — cancelled mid-cycle Cancelled	Combination of attempted paper scores + internal assessments, pre-boards, class tests
CISCE	ICSE (Class 10) and ISC (Class 12) Cancelled	Internal performance, prior tests, project work; improvement exam available

Cambridge: Portfolio of Evidence Route

Cambridge is moving to what it’s calling a portfolio of evidence route. For each subject, schools will compile three substantial pieces of student work and submit them to Cambridge for external marking and grading by Cambridge examiners. The portfolio replaces the written exam entirely for this cycle.

That phrase — three substantial pieces per subject — matters. Cambridge hasn’t defined “substantial” in a single word count or format that applies across every subject, because the nature of evidence varies. A History student’s portfolio looks different from a Chemistry student’s. Your school’s subject teachers will know what qualifies as appropriate evidence in your specific subject.

The key thing to understand here: Cambridge examiners, not your school teachers, are doing the grading. This is external assessment, just without the exam hall. Your school’s job is to compile and submit the right work. The marking happens at Cambridge’s end.

Official grades from this route will be recognised by universities exactly as standard Cambridge qualifications. Cambridge has confirmed students will receive official certification. The route is different; the certificate isn’t.

For full details, read our dedicated Cambridge guide: Cambridge Cancels IGCSE, O Level, AS & A Level and IPQ June 2026 Exams in UAE.

IB: The Non-Exam Contingency Measure (NECM)

The NECM isn’t new. The IB developed it precisely for situations where exams can’t run. It draws on externally assessed coursework already submitted, teacher-predicted grades, and internal assessment scores. The IB then moderates the overall picture to maintain consistency with its global grading standards.

In practice, this means: if you completed your Extended Essay, submitted your Internal Assessments, and your teachers submitted predicted grades, those elements now carry all the weight that the final written papers would have carried. There’s no exam to offset weaker coursework or rescue an underperforming IA score. Whatever’s on record is what the IB will work with.

The IB has also confirmed it’s communicating directly with higher education institutions to explain how NECM results should be interpreted. So universities that receive IB results this cycle will know what process was used.

More information is available in our IB-specific article: IB May 2026 Exams Cancelled in UAE — Results via NECM.

Pearson Edexcel: Confirmed Cancellation, Framework Pending

Pearson moved later than Cambridge and IB, but the cancellation is confirmed. What schools are still working out are the precise details of how alternative grades will be calculated. Pearson’s approach will likely involve teacher-assessed grades, coursework records, and internal assessment data — the same building blocks other boards are using — but the exact weighting and submission process hasn’t been fully published at the time of writing.

If you’re an Edexcel student, this ambiguity is genuinely frustrating. The honest answer is that the complete picture isn’t out yet. Keep an eye on your school’s communications and on Pearson’s official channels rather than going by what’s circulating in group chats.

Read our Pearson Edexcel cancellation article for the latest confirmed information: Pearson Edexcel Cancels IGCSE & A-Level UAE May/June 2026.

OxfordAQA: Portfolio Assessment Confirmed

OxfordAQA was the first UK board to formally announce UAE cancellations. The portfolio route here mirrors the Cambridge approach in structure: schools compile evidence of student performance, submit it to OxfordAQA, and OxfordAQA examiners do the grading.

No make-up exams are planned for Summer 2026. The portfolio submission is the only route for this cycle. Students will not lose academic standing — the portfolio process allows progression and formal certification without the written exam.

It’s worth noting that OxfordAQA has a smaller footprint in the UAE compared to Cambridge or Pearson. But the schools that use OxfordAQA qualifications are just as affected, and the process is just as real. If you’re not sure which board your school is registered with for a given subject, your school’s exams office can confirm this immediately.

Our OxfordAQA-specific guide covers this in more detail: OxfordAQA Cancels IGCSE and A-Level Exams in UAE: What Students Need to Know.

CBSE: A Mid-Cycle Cancellation

The CBSE situation is slightly different from the boards above because cancellation happened while exams were already running. Some Grade 12 students sat papers for some subjects before the cancellations kicked in; others sat none.

CBSE’s approach reflects that variation. For subjects where papers were completed, those scores are used. For higher-weightage theory subjects (80 or 70 marks) where students didn’t sit the exam, CBSE will pull the best available scores from quarterly, half-yearly, or pre-board exams. For lower-weightage theory subjects, the final or earlier pre-board scores apply. Practical and internal assessment marks remain unchanged throughout.

For students who didn’t attempt any exam paper at all, results will be based entirely on school performance following CBSE guidelines. The grades will still be valid for university admissions — CBSE has confirmed this.

CISCE: Alternative Assessment with Improvement Option

CISCE is taking an alternative assessment approach based on internal school performance: class tests, prior assessments, and project work. Final results will be declared by the Council.

What distinguishes CISCE from the other boards here is the explicit provision for an improvement examination. Students who are dissatisfied with their results under the alternative assessment process will have the opportunity to appear for a 2026 Improvement Examination after results are declared. That’s a meaningful option if a student feels their alternative assessment grade doesn’t reflect their actual level.

CISCE results are recognised for higher education applications as normal.

Will Universities Accept These Alternative Grades?

This is the question most Year 13 and Grade 12 students are sitting with. The short answer is yes — but the longer answer involves a few things worth understanding.

Universities have dealt with non-exam results before. The Covid-era teacher-assessed grades in 2020 and 2021 established a precedent that most universities adapted to reasonably well. In 2026, the situation is similar in structure. Official grades are being awarded by recognised boards through processes those boards are standing behind. That’s what matters to admissions offices.

UK universities operating through UCAS are the most directly relevant for A-Level and IB students. UCAS has experience coordinating with boards to understand non-standard results cycles, and university admissions teams are expecting this situation. Most will have guidance already prepared.

If you hold a conditional offer from a UK, US, Australian, or Canadian university, the most useful thing you can do is contact that university’s admissions office directly and ask how they’ll handle Summer 2026 UAE results. Frame the question specifically: “My exams have been cancelled due to regional disruption in the UAE. My board is awarding grades via [portfolio / NECM / alternative assessment]. Can you confirm this satisfies my conditional offer?” That phrasing gets you a useful answer quickly.

What Students Should Actually Do Right Now

There’s a pattern I’ve seen before in situations like this: students hear the exams are cancelled and drift. They stop studying, assume everything is sorted, and then realise three weeks later that the alternative assessment has already closed or that a coursework piece they could have completed wasn’t submitted. Don’t do that.

Here’s what actually matters right now.

Find out what’s in your assessment portfolio. Ask your subject teachers, today, which pieces of work have been identified for your portfolio or alternative assessment. You need to know what’s already on record and whether there’s anything still outstanding you could contribute before the submission window closes.

Have an honest conversation with teachers about predicted grades. Not to pressure them — that never works and isn’t fair — but to understand what’s informing their assessment of your ability. If there’s a subject where your internal record doesn’t reflect your actual understanding, there may still be time to demonstrate that through coursework or a final piece of evidence. The only way to know is to ask.

Keep studying. This sounds obvious but it gets ignored. University conditional offers still exist. You may need to demonstrate knowledge in interviews. And if any board opens a supplementary assessment window, you want to be in a position to benefit. The exam being cancelled isn’t a reason to stop. It’s a reason to redirect.

Contact universities directly if you have a conditional offer. Don’t wait for results day to find out whether your grades satisfy your offer. Get clarity now on how the admissions office is handling the 2026 UAE cancellation cycle.

Follow official sources only. WhatsApp groups and school hallways will fill up with rumours about grade inflation, board decisions, and university policy changes. Most of it will be wrong. Your board’s official website and your school’s communications are the only reliable sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

• All major exam boards in the UAE — Cambridge, IB, Pearson Edexcel, OxfordAQA, CBSE, and CISCE — have cancelled or disrupted 2026 exams due to ongoing regional conflict.
• Every board is using an alternative assessment process. No student loses a year. Grades will be awarded from portfolios, coursework, teacher assessments, and internal exam records.
• Cambridge and OxfordAQA are using a portfolio of evidence route, externally marked. IB is using NECM. CBSE is combining available exam scores with school-based assessments. CISCE includes an improvement exam option.
• University conditional offers still apply. Students should contact their university’s admissions office directly to confirm how alternative 2026 grades satisfy their offer.
• The most useful thing students can do right now is find out exactly what’s in their portfolio or assessment record, have an honest conversation with teachers, and keep studying.