The most recent release of the Cambridge International A Levels November 2020 examination results in January thrilled INTI’s academicians, especially lecturers who had journeyed with their students through thick and thin amidst the disruptive Covid-19 pandemic. Reflecting the gritty determination of students and lecturers alike, INTI saw a significant increase of high achievers during the October / November 2020 cohort.
INTI’s high achievers from the Cambridge International A Levels November 2020 examination. From left – Chan Zhiwei of INTI Penang, Choo Lee Wen of INTI Nilai and Woo Yuan Xin of INTI Subang.
At INTI College Nilai, the results showed a doubled growth of A Level students who obtained 3As and above, which drew excitement from Dr Kumar Krishnan, Head of Programme and Principal Lecturer of the Cambridge A Levels programme.
With 22 years of lecturing experiences at INTI, the seasoned academician said, “The hard work of the students and the continued commitment of our lectures were rewarded with these exceptional results.”
He was commenting on the doubled growth in high achievers, from 22.22% in the June 2020 exam series to 50% in the current series.
During the early months of the pandemic, Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) had no choice but to cancel June 2020 final exams, which were replaced with an alternative method using predicted grades. The November 2020 series was the first cohort to resume the sit-in exam series for both AS and A2 levels (the first and final year of the A Levels programmes).
Recalling how his students had to deal with the ongoing disruptions and movement controls, Dr Kumar shared, “The students were stressed and worried when the June 2020 exam series was cancelled, with grades being based on school forecasts. Furthermore, the students were troubled when CAIE announced that no marks would be carried forward from their AS Level in the June exam series to their A2 Level in the November 2020 exam series.”
The AS Level stands for Advanced Subsidiary, which is the first half of the programme and forms the foundation of A Levels. Normally, an overall A Levels score is a combination of both scores from the AS Level and A2 Level in a 50:50 ratio.
In other words, the A Levels candidates of this series needed to work extremely hard to ensure they scored a favourable result in their A2 levels, in order to complete their programme with the scores needed to enter their universities of choice.
According to Dr Kumar, INTI College Nilai’s students achieved high grades in most of their subjects due to their additional hard work and the constant motivation from their lecturers.
“The lecturers regularly engaged students with revision exercises, constant communication via emails and Blackboard – INTI’s Learning Management System, and building up a good rapport with their students. I am pleased that the students’ hard work and the dedication of their lecturers have been rewarded with these outstanding results that reflect their potential. I hope that they will continue to reach for this success in their future studies,” he said.
Choo Lee Wen, 20, the highest achiever at INTI College Nilai among her cohort, attained an incredible 4A* (A star) and 1A in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and further mathematics. She attributed her achievement to the helpful lecturers at INTI, who never hesitated to give the best they could to the students during the challenging time they had been away from classrooms. The determination, concentration and self-discipline that she put in while adapting to the transformation from conventional learning to fully online classes, was also a big reason for her success.
Choo had been worried before the exams, as many uncertainties arose when the June 2020 exam series was officially cancelled during the first lockdown.
“I chose to proceed with my trial exam results, as my official AS exam results did not carry any weightage. Honestly, I was not confident about my decision. Despite the setback, my lecturers closely interacted with the students online to ensure we grasped our studies well,” said the straight-A student who is also a UEC merit scholar from Chung Hua High School, Seremban.
“Even though I was affected by the pandemic, I stuck to my study plan, revised my work consistently and kept asking questions. My lecturers were always willing to spare their time and explain each question with added details. This remarkably strengthened my fundamental knowledge. Lecturers are often more familiar with your ability, so, seeking advice from them is advantageous as they will easily identify your weakness and improvise from there,” advised Choo, who plans to study mechanical engineering for her tertiary education, and hopes to one day become a skilled engineer.
At sister campus INTI International College Penang, the A Levels cohort also saw an improvement in the November 2020 exam series, where 47% of the candidates attained 3As and above, maintaining the good results that it has been known for in the region.
Ms Tan Bee Hooi, Head of Programme for Cambridge A Levels of INTI Penang elaborated, “For this series, only those that were truly ready proceeded with the exams as planned. The results reflected the collaborative efforts between the lecturers and students as they had to adapt to the numerous changes in online learning and physical lab learning. Though there was high anxiety amidst the uncertainties, nevertheless, we are glad that the overall results turned out well.”
Among those students who achieved fruitful outcomes, Chan Zhiwei, 18, an alumnus of Chung Ling Private High School Penang, basked in the glory of achieving 4A* in mathematics, further mathematics, chemistry and physics. Similar to many students in her cohort, she had been worried that Covid-19 would further disrupt the examinations.
“Choosing to take the exams as scheduled was my way of regaining a bit of control over the year. If it had been delayed any longer, I would have forgotten what I learned,” Chan said with a chuckle.
With an interest in studying computer science, Chan is now confidently looking for an undergraduate programme from universities in the UK and Australia, as completing her studies with flying colours has become her global pass card.
For INTI International College Subang, Mr Lee Wee Xian, Head of the Cambridge A-Levels Programme at the Pre University Studies Department indicated that there was a great leap of 20% in the ratio of high achievers, compared to last year’s results.
“Despite the global pandemic, INTI quickly put in the appropriate measures to sustain the performance of our students in the CAIE exams, responding to the changing situations as they arose,” he said.
The global crisis not only altered the ways of learning and teaching, but it also made the task of academics much more challenging. For many lecturers, they had to swiftly shift gears to online educational technologies and applications.
“The pandemic has created significant change in the whole education industry as it has revolutionized teaching and learning. E-learning has now become the norm. However, we live with the motto that no crisis is beyond our control and continued to work together to remain resilient to the changes,” stressed Lee, who has been lecturing Cambridge A Levels for seven years.
Emerging as INTI Subang’s top student for the A Levels November 2020 exam series, Woo Yuan Xin, 18, from Honsbridge International School, was grateful for her achievement with 4A* in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Even though she had to complete the second half of her A Levels studies fully online, Woo decided to give it a go and not defer her studies any longer.
“Because I want to study medicine which will take up many years, I didn’t want to waste too much time on my pre-U course,” she said, frankly.
Besides thanking her parents and friends who pushed her forward along her journey, Woo, who aims to be a surgeon, appreciated the efforts of her lecturers in supporting her.
“They provided us with extensive consultation and answered my non-stop questions via emails, even during odd hours” confessed Woo.
Though the situation has been challenging and difficult since March 2020, yet, the above achievements were an incredible reward for both lecturers and students at INTI.
Lee concluded that through regular communications between the lecturers, students and parents, INTI continues to offer a lively e-campus environment with good morale, which has encouraged the students’ good performance and helped prepare them for their future.