UAE Ministry of Education announces final semester exam schedule, guidelines for Grades 3–12

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Education has announced the final schedule and detailed directives for the end-of-third-term examinations for the academic year 2024–2025. These guidelines apply to all students in Grades 3 to 12 across public and private schools that follow the national curriculum in the UAE.

Examinations will be held from 10 June to 19 June, with the period from 2 June to 4 June allocated for final project and assignment submissions for Group B subjects.

Grade 12 students in the General, Advanced, and Elite streams will begin their exams with Physics on 10 June, followed by English on 11 June, Islamic Education on 12 June, Chemistry on 13 June, Mathematics on 16 June, Arabic on 17 June, Social Studies on 18 June, and Biology on 19 June. Applied stream students will follow a separate schedule beginning with Applied Science on 10 June and concluding with Social Studies on 18 June.

Students in Grades 3 to 9 will start with Science, while those in the Advanced stream from Grade 9 to Grade 11 will commence with Physics.

The Ministry has reinforced a blended examination model for students from Grade 5 to Grade 12, combining paper-based and electronic assessments depending on the subject and educational stream. Grade 3 and Grade 4 students will sit traditional paper exams at school. All students from Grade 5 upwards are required to bring their own laptops for the electronic portions of their exams, and in-person attendance is mandatory across all grade groups.

Special arrangements have been made for specific subjects. The Grade 12 English exam will be conducted electronically in a timed writing format via a secure platform. For Chemistry, students in the General and Advanced streams will be given printed periodic tables, while those in the Elite stream will access a digital version embedded in the SwiftAssess assessment platform.

Additionally, Grade 12 students attending private schools will take their exams at designated public schools under the supervision of educational branch coordinators, in collaboration with school administrations.

The Ministry has reiterated its policy prohibiting teachers from reading central examination questions to students. The only exception is for Grade 3, where teachers may read the questions aloud without offering any explanation, to ensure fairness and transparency.

All students must follow official exam guidelines closely, including arriving at least 30 minutes before the exam starts to collect their entry cards. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late will not be permitted to enter the examination hall.

The Ministry said these directives reflect its commitment to maintaining a fair, disciplined, and high-quality assessment environment that supports equal educational opportunities for all students.