Portfolio of Evidence Grades Explained (2026): How Cancelled-Exam IGCSE Results Actually Work

If you sat — or rather, didn’t sit — your IGCSE or A-Level exams in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain or Qatar this summer, your grade is coming from something most students have never heard of before 2026: a Portfolio of Evidence. And the questions everyone is Googling right now are the same three: How is it actually graded? Will it look different on my certificate? And will universities accept it?

Short answers: externally, no, and yes. Here’s the full picture — what happened, how the portfolio route works, and what to do on results day if the grade isn’t what you hoped for.

What happened in May/June 2026 — a quick recap

In the run-up to the May/June 2026 series, regional instability disrupted travel, logistics and school operations across parts of the Middle East. Citing the safety of students and staff, the major UK exam boards — Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel and OxfordAQA — cancelled their IGCSE, International GCSE and International A-Level exams in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Lebanon.

Students in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt sat their exams as planned — so this guide is mainly for the Gulf students on the portfolio route, though the results-day options at the end apply to everyone.

How the Portfolio of Evidence route actually works

1. Your school gathered your best evidence
   Mock exams, formal in-class assessments, coursework and other substantial pieces of work — curated per subject, per student, following the board’s evidence rules.
2. It was submitted to the board by mid-June
   Cambridge set a deadline of 12 June 2026 for schools to submit portfolios for the June series. Pearson and OxfordAQA ran equivalent processes.
3. Board examiners graded it externally
   This is the part most students get wrong: your teachers did not decide your grade. Portfolios are marked and standardised by the board’s examiners, against the same external standard as an exam series.
4. You get a normal grade on results day
   A*–G for Cambridge, 9–1 for Edexcel International GCSE — released on the normal results days alongside everyone else’s.

Key dates

Will my certificate look different?

No. Your statement of results and your certificate show the qualification, the subject and the grade — on the same scale as every other candidate worldwide. There is no asterisk, code or note indicating the grade came from a portfolio. A Cambridge IGCSE B earned via portfolio in Dubai reads identically to one earned in an exam hall in London.

Not sure how to read the paperwork you’ll receive? See our guide to the statement of results and IGCSE certificates.

Will universities accept portfolio grades?

Yes. The boards have been explicit that portfolio grades are fully valid qualifications, and universities in the UK, US, UAE and across the region accept them. UCAS and sector bodies were involved throughout to keep admissions fair for affected students.

Two honest caveats:

• Highly competitive courses (medicine, Oxbridge-tier applications) may look at your whole academic picture more closely in an unusual year — strong AS/A-Level performance next year matters more than ever.
• Regional equivalency still applies as normal. A portfolio grade goes through the same Ministry equivalency process as any IGCSE grade — see our guides for the UAE, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

“My mocks weren’t my best work” — what if the grade disappoints?

This is the fair worry with the portfolio route: it graded the evidence you happened to have, not the final sprint many students rely on. If your grade comes in lower than you know you’re capable of, you have two real routes:

Portfolio of Evidence FAQ

However strange this year has been, the qualification you’re getting is the same one — same scale, same recognition, same doors. Read your results carefully on the 18th, and if the portfolio didn’t do you justice, remember: the November paper is sitting right there, and past papers are how you win it.