How To Reschedule Or Cancel The IELTS Exam
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If you are looking to reschedule or cancel your IELTS Computer-based or Paper-based exam, then you have come to the right place. In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know in order to do that.
1. Rescheduling IELTS Exam
Life can be hard to predict sometimes. You may book your IELTS exam online and then later realise that you are unable to make that test date. In such cases, you will need to reschedule the test and change to another date. Fortunately, both the British Council and IDP allow you to make changes, but there are some strict conditions to consider.
First of all, you cannot reschedule your exam date within five days of the test or else you will forfeit the fee you have paid. As such, you will need to contact your test centre in advance and ask them for a change. The length of time before the exam that you must do this depends on the type of IELTS test:
- For computer-based IELTS exams, you must apply at least three weeks prior to your test date.
- For paper-based IELTS exams, you must apply at least five weeks prior to your test date.
Failure to apply in advance of these dates will mean that you are charged the full fee for your IELTS test and will have to apply again. If you do apply for a new test date in advance of those dates, you will still be charged an administration fee for the change, so you should only make a change if you really have no other choice. The administration fee is 25% of the value of your test fee.
It is also important to note that you must change to another date that is within three months of the previous exam date. Also, the new test date is at the discretion of the testing centre, so if they cannot accommodate your request, then you will need to cancel the test entirely.
2. Cancelling IELTS Test
The process of cancelling your IELTS test altogether is similar to rescheduling it. You must make sure to cancel well in advance of your test date. The same time limits are in place:
- For computer-based IELTS exams, you must cancel at least three weeks prior to your test date.
- For paper-based IELTS exams, you must cancel at least five weeks prior to your test date.
If you cancel more than three or five weeks in advance, you will be given a refund minus 25% of the total fee. This is considered an administration cost.
Cancelling your test date within three or five weeks of the exam will mean that you forfeit the entire amount, so again it is worth avoiding this by trying to keep your original exam date.
3. Exceptional Circumstances
Sometimes in life, emergencies situations arise. If you have an unavoidable reason for missing your IELTS test date, you will need to provide the testing centre with evidence to verify your claim. That means providing a doctor’s note for medical issues, a death certificate for a bereavement, or a police report for other situations like traffic accidents.
When this sort of problem occurs, you must inform the IELTS testing centre before your exam if possible. If you are sick on the day of the test, you should gather a doctor’s note, have it verified by a government official, and submit it within 5 days. Please see the British Council and IDP websites for specific details regarding documentation.
Once you have submitted your evidence to verify your reason for not sitting the test, the centre will attempt to assess whether it is genuine or not. If it is considered genuine, they will issue you with a new test date and you will be charged an administrative fee. Again, this will be 25% of the value of the original test.
