Board Exams Postponed: How this affects students to study abroad plans

Every year, we witness an increase in the number of students aspiring to study abroad. Whilst the pandemic was a hurdle in these plans, it did not deter them from achieving their education abroad dreams. However, with the newly brought changes with the cancellation of the CBSE Class 10th examinations and Class 12th examinations postponement, students are left scouring for answers. Moreover, even the IB Board will grant Class 10th and 12th results from coursework marks and predicted grades.

What does this mean for those students looking to make their applications for higher education abroad?

Problems that the student may face

Taking into account the well-being and health of students, the competent authorities have decided to postpone or cancel the exams. However, this leaves students with a dearth of time when it comes to preparing for university admission tests, and other profile enhancing activities. Those students looking to study undergraduate courses in USA may not be able to appear for the May SAT cycle and will instead have to appear for the August cycle. This added by the woes of getting application documentation in order.

How will universities help?

The majority of the universities abroad tend to also offer students with conditional offer letters. Therefore, based on the grades that the students have achieved to date, they will be able to secure conditional offer letters. Once the student appears for the exams and secures the requisite score, the university will then shift to offering them an unconditional offer letter. Students can expect their results to come by late July and early August and then appropriately make the plans ahead. Those students looking to study in USA, tend not to be affected so much since universities there tend to follow a direct unconditional offer letter system, that doesn’t offer paramount significance to academic grades.

What does this mean for student visas?

The process of obtaining a student visa has become challenging owing to the restrictions in place. For a regular Visa, the waiting period is of 3-6 weeks; with results arriving in August and Fall dates for many universities in mid-September, this persists a problem for students.

Why students shouldn’t get worried?

With minimal changes in the study in USA application process, the Indian board has ensured to take these steps keeping in mind that the future prospects of these students are not hampered. Since IB and IGCSE students appear for their examinations in May-July anyways, their admission process to study abroad stays unhindered. However, many students are worried that postponement means they don’t have enough time in their hands to work on other aspects of their profile. Students must utilize their time in hand to engage in community activities, Moreover, many colleges in India themselves are conducting activities to address these problems. With the postponement students also have time in hand to prepare for the university admission tests such as IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, GRE, GMAT, SAT and ACT.

Universities abroad are also aware of the situation and have relaxed their entry requirements addressing these concerns.

As Overseas Education Consultants, we at Edwise encourage our students to remain calm. For solving any of your study abroad doubts, get in touch with us today.