Closing time!

We’re often asked why the closing date for sitting at overseas centres is earlier than that for centres in the UK and Ireland

This is because after you make your entries there is a vast amount of preparation work done, and material that then needs to be shipped around the world to your exam centres.

We know how you like your facts and figures, so here are a few from the April 2016 sitting for you to ponder over:

• we received 14,350 exam entries from 10,517 students
• exams were sat in 144 centres in 82 different countries
• 1,608 shipments, containing 2,334 parcels, made their way to and from the exam centres around the world
• 14,583 completed exam scripts came back and were scanned ready for marking; and yes, that meant that some of you used more than one booklet!
• our 191 Assistant Examiners were then tasked with the job of starting marking your exams

We deal with external suppliers to arrange the printing and shipping of exam materials and, as you can imagine, these take time and need to be thoroughly checked. Shipping times to worldwide centres, and any potential delays in customs, have to be allowed for and this is why we need to have an earlier closing date for our overseas candidates.

As you can see, there are many things to be factored into the exam sitting process and this is why closing dates are set and strictly adhered to, so as to ensure that the whole process runs smoothly

If you are based overseas then we urge you to book your exams as soon as possible as we cannot accept entries after the closing date.

Our process starts as soon as the closing date has passed so that we can deliver your exam sessions on time. The majority of you now take advantage of the online booking system to ensure that you secure a place at the centre of your choice, and we encourage you all to do so.

We publish our exam dates, along with the exam entry and closing dates well in advance to help you plan for your exams. So please, always look out for these and make sure you don’t miss out.