Official release of A’ Levels today

Last week some Port-of-Spain schools accessed the results via the internet from the University of Cambridge using a password, contrary to the Education Ministry’s advice that the results be held until today.

The ministry subsequently said the release of the results was not illegal and instructed other schools to release the results to anxious students.

However, while the results were posted on the schools’ notice boards, the hard copy could not be made available until today, when the results are officially released by Cambridge. The results will also be released in England today.

Private candidates are expected to receive their results by August 30 at their home addresses.

The results of the 2005 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) will also be released today.

The ministry yesterday stated that all results will be released to school principals at 9 am.

A report in yesterday’s Newsday said 20 percent of parents whose children wrote the A’ Level exams suffered from stress while awaiting the results. The report said research conducted at the University of Hertfordshire found that 23 percent of mothers and 16 percent of fathers suffered physical or emotional symptoms in the run-up to the results day.

This year, parents were reportedly more stressed out than previous years, with three in ten saying they were affected by waiting on the results. Four percent of the parents polled said they had suffered from depression. Thirteen percent of the parents said their children had become more withdrawn as today approached, and one in ten believed their child’s alcohol intake was increasing.

Some reports out of England also suggested that this year’s results will see students receiving a record number of passes and top grades.