Institute of Masters of Wine cancels 2020 exam

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Institute of Masters of Wine has had to cancel the 2020 exam, which normally takes place in June.

The IMW has postponed all its upcoming events and cancelled the June-time 2020 exams

The test, which comprises a week of blind wine tastings and written essay-based papers in three centres – London, Sydney and Napa – will not take place at all this year, despite the hope that the peak of the coronavirus pandemic will have passed within the next few weeks.

However, students who have already passed the “closed book part of the MW exam”, and are working on the final part of the famously difficult ordeal, which is called the Research Paper, can continue as normal “with consideration given for short-term timing issues”.

While some may have hoped that it would be possible to postpone the exam until later in the year, due to the uncertainty of the efficacy of attempts to control the spread of Covid-19, and the challenge of marking student papers by the end of the year, the IMW has opted to cancel the 2020 exam altogether.

The IMW is keen to stress that applications for the 2020/2021 study programme will be open as usual later this year.

Furthermore, the organisation is looking into developing online alternatives for its introductory courses and information sessions, which have all been postponed.

The IMW has also postponed upcoming tastings and seminars, and new dates will be released as soon as possible later in the year.

Meanwhile, the IMW executive team are working remotely.