International A-level and IGCSE exams across the Middle East are being officially cancelled due to the impact of the war in the region.

In an email sent to a school in the United Arab Emirates and seen by Tes, Rob Bryson, director of international delivery at exam board OxfordAQA, writes: “After consulting closely with the [UAE] ministry of education, schools and other international exam boards, we have made the decision to cancel OxfordAQA exams in your country.”

OxfordAQA told Tes that the cancellation also applies to schools in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The email to schools says students will now be graded via school-submitted work, with a deadline of 12 June to provide this information.

A message from exam board Pearson says it has also cancelled exams across the Middle East.

“We can confirm that in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Lebanon, exams in schools for International GCSE, International A level and iPLS for the May/June 2026 series have been cancelled and will not go ahead as planned,” says a statement from Emma Whale, vice president for international schools at Pearson.

Cambridge International has also told schools in the UAE and Bahrain that “exams will not take place at your school” and instead “candidates’ portfolios of evidence for us to mark and grade their work” must be submitted.

It confirmed that this applied to Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge O-level, Cambridge International AS- and A-level and Cambridge IPQ exams.
 
A Cambridge spokesperson said: “We have a range of measures in place to support schools and students in this process, as this is a well-established, robust approach. In parallel, we are refreshing our resources to support teaching and learning online.”

‘Nightly attacks’

One school leader in Bahrain said they welcomed the decision due to the circumstances children are experiencing.

“Given that we are getting nightly attacks and not sleeping, it is a really dire situation, and I agree wholeheartedly that it is not fair on these kids to sit external exams at this moment,” they said.

This sentiment was echoed by a leader in the UAE: “Relieved to have a definitive answer. It has been unsettling for staff and students to not know what was happening. Now we can focus on doing the best we can for our students in these challenging circumstances.”

Another leader in the UAE said they had already started planning for the cancellation of exams, given the scale of the disruption.

“We have all been preparing for this scenario here in the region,” they said. “Our main priority now is supporting our students, receiving clarification from exam boards and ensuring that our students who are heading off to uni are confident for their next steps.”

It has also been confirmed that International Baccalaureate (IB) exams will not take place in Bahrain.

This followed on from confirmation earlier this week that the IB’s May exams had been cancelled for the UAE and that students will instead receive grades based on externally assessed coursework and teacher predictions.