Where to take your examination

Facilities vary, so find out which location would be best for you

Main examination centres

Many of our examination centres use quite large halls, with students sitting in rows at school-like desks which may cause you psychological or physical difficulties.

If you need to use a kind of question paper or a method of answering that could disturb other students, or might require more than 30 minutes of extra time, it won’t be practical to attend a main examination hall. However, it may be possible to attend if all your requirements can be met by one or more of the following arrangements.

• A large-print question paper
• Space to stand up, stretch and walk around without disturbing other students
• Suitable positioning in the examination hall, for example
  • near a radiator if you need to keep warm
  • near an exit if you need to leave the room often
  • near the front or to one side if you are hard of hearing.

You should get approval beforehand from your regional or national centre for using your own equipment (perhaps a cushion, a special chair, a sloping writing board, a magnifying glass, or a spellchecker we have approved).

You’ll also need to find out whether your local examination centre has suitable access and facilities for you, such as

• public transport
• suitable parking
• wheelchair access
• a lift.

Staff at your regional or national centre will be able to advise you on this.

Non-established centres outside the UK

If you are working or living abroad at the time of your examination you should ask for an examination at a non-established centre outside the UK. Wherever possible, we will arrange your examination at either a British Council or at an educational establishment within a reasonable travelling distance. If you need special examination arrangements, the Examinations Office will discuss this with you once we have received your request form for an examination at a non-established centre and your request form for examination arrangements.

We will try to meet your needs, but we may not always be able to provide the same facilities at a non-established centre as we can at our main UK centres. You should let us know on the request form if you have any particular access requirements, so we can confirm if the facilities are suitable.

Other options

Where we can’t meet your requirements in a main examination hall but you are able to travel, it may be possible for you to take your examination either in a side room at your local main examination centre or at your regional or national centre.

If none of these is appropriate (either because you can’t travel or because you need to use equipment that can’t be moved easily), you may be allowed to sit your examination in your own home, or in a special centre such as a hospital or a day centre.

Examinations at home

If we give you permission to take your examination at home we expect you to take reasonable measures to make sure that conditions are suitable. For example, you might need to make arrangements for childcare, ask someone to look after pets and minimise disturbances by visitors or phone calls. The room you use for your examination should be large enough for you and an invigilator to use in reasonable comfort.

Some of our invigilators are allergic to cigarette smoke or to pet hairs, so if you need to take your examination at home and you smoke or have pets, please tell us on the request form for examination arrangements

You can tell us if you have a preference for a male or a female invigilator, although our pool of invigilators is limited and we might not be able to meet this preference.