Request for Cancellation or Alternative Assessment for IB May 2026 Exams in the Middle East

The International Baccalaureate should take a more flexible and compassionate approach toward M26 students given the ongoing instability in the Middle East. Many students in the region are facing disruptions that go beyond normal academic challenges, including emotional stress, uncertainty, and in some cases direct impacts on daily life such as travel restrictions, safety concerns, or interruptions to schooling. These conditions make it difficult to prepare for high-stakes external examinations under fair and equal circumstances. While the IB values academic rigor and global standards, fairness should also account for context. Offering measures such as adjusted grade boundaries, optional exam components, or increased weighting on coursework would help ensure that affected students are assessed more equitably. Such support would not lower standards but rather recognize the reality that students cannot perform at their best when external conditions are beyond their control.

4 months ago Featured

Even if we go back to school there would still be a risk that out of nowhere schools are targeted. Schools should use mock grades or postpone them to November session. Half every school left the uae already so it would be hard to do it in may

pls cancel our mental health and study environment is affected

in the uae there is the highest number of attacks and the country been doing an amazing job intrecpeting eveything, but these intrecpetions brings fear to us the sound is loud, the shock is loud and with a large number of attacks it would defently be hard to do my exams in a middle of sounds and attacks

please cancel them for us omg does the ib not feel for us? #settingusupforfailure

I am signing this petition because the atmosphere of anxiety, fear, and ongoing regional instability has made it genuinely impossible for students in our area to prepare for IB examinations at the standard these exams demand. The question is not simply whether exams can physically take place — it is whether students can realistically be expected to compete on equal footing with peers in stable environments. Many of us are struggling to focus on coursework due to constant safety concerns and stress. That is not a condition under which anyone can perform at their best. Compounding this further, students in our region have been forced to rely on online schooling , a mode of education that research consistently shows produces weaker academic outcomes than in-person instruction. We are not receiving the quality of teaching and preparation that IB examinations require, through no fault of our own. The gap between what we have been able to access and what the exams expect of us is significant and measurable. Students here deserve the same fair opportunity as any other IB candidate in the world. Proceeding without acknowledgement of these circumstances places us at a clear and unjust disadvantage.

I agree

:)

I am writing as an IB student to express serious concern on behalf of students across the Middle East and to strongly request the cancellation of the exams due to the worsening conflicts in the region. Students in countries affected by war and instability—such as Palestine (Gaza), Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen—are living under constant fear and uncertainty. How are we supposed to prepare effectively when we are under the threat of bombings and in fear for our lives every day, while also being expected to perform in one of the most difficult and competitive exam systems that determines our future? Under these conditions, it is impossible for students to focus, revise, or perform to their true academic ability, as our safety and mental well-being are at serious risk. Continuing the exams in such circumstances is deeply unfair, and I strongly urge the IB Organization to cancel the exams as we cannot study effectively with us students worrying for our lifes at stake and focusing on the most challenging exams known world wide

I am writing as an IB student to express serious concern on behalf of students across the Middle East and to strongly request the cancellation of the exams due to the worsening conflicts in the region. Students in countries affected by war and instability—such as Palestine (Gaza), Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen—are living under constant fear and uncertainty. How are we supposed to prepare effectively when we are under the threat of bombings and in fear for our lives every day, while also being expected to perform in one of the most difficult and competitive exam systems that determines our future? Under these conditions, it is impossible for students to focus, revise, or perform to their true academic ability, as our safety and mental well-being are at serious risk. Continuing the exams in such circumstances is deeply unfair, and I strongly urge the IB Organization to cancel the exams for our safety.

:)

pls cancl im travelling tomorrow

Students well being should always come first.

yes pls

cancel them all around the world

Too much js cancel

Plis Cancel

It is not fair. Students already have stess, can'tt do the exam when in Dubai and when abroad are ususlly faced with scrammed and crowded study conditions.

In addition, students that have left the country becaus of the war, face challeenging housing conditions (like a scammed hotel room or room at a family house. Very difficult to concentrate in a crowded space

Hala