THE Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) will be allowing the 243 students who were affected by the May/June flood rains, to resit the exams free of cost in January or June, 2003.

At the same time, an additional 65 students have been granted assessed grades by the CXC, based on their coursework and earlier papers completed in the respective subjects.

Two months ago Cambridge International Examinations made a similar announcement for General Certificate of Education (GCE) O’ level students, offering free exam resits this November, or an assessed grade, for those affected by the flood rains.

The rains that lasted for almost two consecutive weeks in May and June this year destroyed homes and livestock and left several roads impassable throughout the island.

During that time the CXC issued a release advising students who could not reach their examination centre to sit the subject at the centre nearest to them.

More than 600 students did not do their exams at the designated centres, the majority were from areas hardest hit in Manchester, St Thomas and St Ann.

In addition, the local CXC office received a little over 308 letters from students who claimed that they were not able to sit one or all of their exam papers because of the weather.

“These were candidates who were absent from different papers,” Beryl Urquhart, local registrar of the Overseas Examinations Office, said yesterday.

The papers mainly affected were Information Technology, Mechanical Technology and Clothing and Textiles. There were also the odd papers in principles of accounts, mathematics, Spanish, English literature and history, where students did not show up.

According to Urquhart, of the 308 who wrote in, only 65 qualified for an assessed grade.

“The council said in cases where they had enough on which to grade candidates that they would give candidates an assessed grade.”

Yesterday Urquhart urged all students who sent in a claim, or who sat their exam outside the designated centre and have not yet received their results, to contact the office immediately at 2a Picadilly Rd.

Registration for the January exams normally closes September 19, however, the final date has been extended to September 30.