Dear Year 13 Students and Parents,

We are forwarding to you a letter from the IB Schools in Greece Association (IBSIGA) regarding the IB Diploma examination session in May 2021. The letter has been agreed by all the IB schools in the Association, including St Catherine’s British School, and is being sent out to all the students in all of the member schools.

In addition to the letter we would like to say a few words of our own. Firstly, let us assure all of our students that we are extremely aware of how stressful and unsettling the whole situation is. It is not something that any of us can recall from any previous similar experience in order to provide solace or indeed alternative solutions. It is the first time for all of us that we are navigating this path together. St Catherine’s British School is not an island however and we have to comply with the wider directives and regulations. The two key factors dictating the situation regarding the hosting of the summer examinations come from the two bodies with regulatory control, namely the IBO and the Hellenic Ministry of Education.

The IBO have made the decision that the examinations will go ahead in Greece as long as the local conditions at that time will allow them. This is common with many, many countries including those who have had school closures of equal or longer to those endured in Greece. The IBO has been proactive in reducing the examinable content and number of examination papers. Also there is a provision for grades to be awarded to students if there are positive COVID cases during the examination session and we have to suspend the exams for some or all of the students. Please be aware that this non-examination provision will be based on IA and school predicted grades that will be closely regulated. It is very unlikely that the framework this year will see the grade inflation of May 2020 and some students may consider themselves hard done by in some subjects. This is because there will be a quota system based on school historical data in each subject that will limit the number of high grades predicted. The fairness of the written examination route is that if a whole class performs well and deserves a grade 7 then that is what they will achieve! The non-examination route will not allow that.

Equally important is the fact that the Greek Ministry of Education also supports the hosting of exams for graduating students. Final year High School students throughout Greece are preparing for written Panhellenic examinations despite being restricted to online learning which in most cases has been far less effective than that provided by the IB schools here in Greece. The Ministry of Education has also formulated a regulation (ΚΥΑ ΕΞΕΤΑΣΕΙΣ_ΦΕΚ Β 11_05.01.21) for final year students due to study abroad in order for them to come in to take examinations such as the IB Diploma or GCE A Levels even if the school is closed due to a general closure (as opposed to a school specific quarantine).

Although this past year of the pandemic has shown us that nothing is completely certain and changes do happen, we would like students now to settle down and focus on studying for the May examinations as well as completing their Internal Assessments. Most IB students across the globe and here in Greece will be doing exactly that and those who are prepared will come out of the May session with the grades they needed to secure their academic futures. We do not wish for our students to be left behind because we were not open and honest about the fact that the written examinations will be going ahead in May barring a change in circumstances - that would be irresponsible on our part and would lead to even greater emotional distress.

We will be communicating to you further in due course regarding the arrangements and will be seeing most of you at the online Parent-Teacher Meeting this Thursday afternoon.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Bond, Mrs Peters, Mr Smith