Terms and Conditions of Cambridge English Exams

All correspondence between British Council and customers will be dealt with in a confidential manner.

For the steps you need to take to make a Test Registration, please see our how to register for Cambridge Assessment English Qualifications online page. The online registration process allows you to check and amend errors before submitting your Exam Registration to the British Council. Please take the time to read and check your Exam Registration at each page of the online registration process. You may not register more than once for the same Cambridge Assessment English Examination session. After you make your Test Registration, the British Council will confirm its acceptance to you via an email from the relevant test centre of your enrolment. The contract between you and the British Council will only be formed when you are sent the Cambridge Assessment English Exam Confirmation. The contract between you and the British Council is formed in the English language.
The British Council reserves the right not to accept Exam Registrations after the registration period for the relevant Cambridge Assessment English examination session has closed.

The price of your Exam Registration will be quoted on the British Council’s Online Registration System and includes VAT (where applicable). Fees may be subject to change, but this will not affect any confirmed Exam Registration. Payment for your Exam Registration is required in advance through the British Council’s Online Registration System or another available payment method. The registration will not be confirmed until the registration fee has been paid. The candidate may not register more than once for the same exam session.

The British Council reserves the right not to accept registrations after the established deadline. The British Council also reserves the right to cancel an exam if a minimum number of 10 candidates is not reached. In this case, exam fees will be refunded.

(i) Incoming payment

The British Council cannot accept payments made from banks (or other financial institutions) sanctioned by the UK or any other relevant jurisdiction. Where the British Council discovers evidence of payment from a sanctioned bank and/or sanctioned financial institution we will freeze all funds related to that payment and will be unable to deliver the service for which the payment was intended. Please therefore ensure that you do not make payments from an account in a sanctioned bank and/or sanctioned financial institution.

(ii) Outgoing payment

The British Council cannot make payments to banks (or other financial institutions) sanctioned by the UK or any other relevant jurisdiction. If you request a refund to be sent to an account at a sanctioned bank and/or sanctioned financial institution, you will be asked to nominate an alternative method of payment that does not breach sanctions. Failure to provide an alternative method of payment will result in non-payment of the relevant funds.

A full/partial refund of the examination fee is possible only under the following conditions:
1.1. if a refund request is submitted no later than 14 calendar days from the date you receive the Exam Application Summary and Payment Confirmation email as a consequence of the right of withdrawal established under the law, to which candidates registering online are entitled and which should be exercised in accordance to point 2.1.Such right of withdrawal expires after the mentioned 14 calendar days,
1.2. if a refund request is submitted before close of registration but after 14 working days from the date you receive the Exam Confirmation email,
1.3. if absence during the examination occurred on medical grounds or due to specific circumstances.

2.1. In the case of refunds described in points 1.1. and 1.2. you or the person/institution that submitted the fee on your behalf, should submit the online form by the stated deadline.
2.2. In the case of absence described in point 1.3 you or the person/institution that submitted the fee on your behalf, should attach a medical certificate to form by the stated deadline. The medical certificate should indicate the dates when you were indisposed. The British Council is aware of the fact that Dutch medical practitioners are not always allowed to give out a statement regarding a patient’s condition. These practitioners can provide the patient with a note explaining why Dutch law no longer allows them to share this information with third parties. In this case the refund request needs to be supported by a similar note which needs to include the name and signature of a recognised practitioner and the date on which the document was issued. In the case of family/other circumstances the exam centre will also request a form of proof. Cambridge Assessment English will ultimately decide to approve or reject the withdrawal request; the British Council has no say in this.
2.3. The documents mentioned should be submitted to the British Council exam centre where you were registered for the exam not later than 3 days after the written test you were registered for.

If you are entitled to a refund, the refunded money will be returned in the same way as you originally paid.
You or the person/institution that submitted the fee on your behalf is entitled to an entire or partial refund under the conditions stated below:
3.1. In the case described in point 1.1. a refund of 100% of the submitted fee.
3.2 In the case described in point 1.2 and 1.3 candidates receive a partial refund of the exam fee. An administration fee of 30% of the exam fee will be retained for all Cambridge Assessment English exams.
Refunds will be made within 4 weeks of the receipt of the full set of correctly completed documentation.

Your registration is valid for one session. You can ask for one free transfer per test only if you fullfill these two conditions: a- the period of registration is still open; b- a session of the same test is available in the same Centre within three months of the same academic year. It will not be possible to transfer the registration to another type/product or another venue/Centre. Registrations are also personal and cannot be transferred to other individuals.

The British Council and the Examining Boards take all reasonable steps to provide continuity of service. We feel sure you will understand, however, that we cannot be held responsible for any interruptions caused by circumstances beyond our control. If examinations or their results are disrupted, cancelled or delayed, every effort will be made to resume normal service as soon as possible. The British Council’s liability will be limited to the refund of the registration fee or re-testing at a later date.
The British Council is not responsible for loss or damage to your personal belongings at the test venue. Therefore, we strongly recommend leaving valuables, such as mobile phones and computers, at home.

Once registered you will be required to submit a signed Photo Consent Form expressing your consent to be photographed on the exam day if required by the current exam regulations. If you are under the age of 18, this form must be signed by a parent/legal guardian. In this case, photographs and exams results will be available on a protected web site called Online Results Verification where institutions will be able to verify the candidate’s identity and/or results.
When taking B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency exams it is mandatory for candidates to have their photograph taken on the day of the Speaking exam. Cambridge Assessment English reserves the right not to publish exam results if the candidate has not been photographed according to the regulations. For more information please consult this link.

All information regarding the exam (timetable), including the date of the Speaking Test, the exam’s location and the candidate number, will be communicated to the candidate approximately 3 weeks before the exam date (approximately 7 days for computer-based exams). When registering for a paper based exam the Speaking component usually takes place on a different day than the written components and possibly on a Saturday. It is not possible to choose or change the Speaking test date; it is the candidate‘s responsibility to check the Speaking dates and avoid clashes with other commitments. If a candidate registers for a computer based exam, we guarantee that the Speaking component will be held on the same day as the Written components.

Any candidate using a dictionary, correction fluid, audio recording equipment, a mobile phone, or any other electronic material, or breaking the regulations in any other way has the possibility of being disqualified.
Copyright of all exam materials belongs to Cambridge Assessment English. Cambridge Assessment English does not allow candidates, centres or institutions to see candidates’ answer sheets or any other material used in the exam.

A document issued by Cambridge Assessment English called Regulations contains a comprehensive list of examination regulations. The details of these regulations are available here.
A Summary Regulation Notice will be sent to candidates together with the exam details and timetable. Should you need your results for visa/immigration purposes, please contact the British Council at the time of registration.

The British Council aims to ensure that every candidate is treated fairly and objectively and that they are given optimum conditions to take their exams. We can make arrangements to accommodate special circumstances or requirements to enable test takers to attend a test centre, to understand questions and to give their exam answers. If you require special arrangements to undertake your exam, please contact your British Council exam centre as soon as possible and before the registration closing date. Please note: no requests regarding special arrangements will be accepted after registration has closed unless there are special circumstances for the request being late. The decision to accept or not accept the late request lies with The British Council. The British Council will use the information that you are providing in connection with processing your application. The legal basis for processing your information is agreement with our terms and conditions of application (contract). We may need to pass this information on to the following partners; Cambridge Assessment English. All medical documents will be subject to strict processing controls, as in accordance with any and all internal and local data protection regulations; including the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Provided medical proofs will be securely stored in access limited folders, with this access limited to only those relevant in the facilitating of exams. This sensitive personal data will only be processed in relation to the exam session which the candidate is registered for. A copy will be stored, in conditions as stated above, for a period of two years after the date of the exam in question; after this period they will be securely destroyed according to British Council data retention regulation.

Cambridge Assessment English examination results are accessible on-line; access details can be found on the Confirmation of Entry. Should these be lost or misplaced, a copy can be requested via email to a British Council Examinations Office from the date results are issued. This copy can only be requested by the exam candidate or the teacher that has registered the candidate. Exam papers are marked in the UK by the Cambridge Assessment English, which later sends results to the British Council. Exam papers remain property of Cambridge Assessment English and cannot be returned or reviewed.

Certificates are sent to candidates by registered post, approximately 6 weeks after the release of results. Certificates will be sent only once, via registered post. Undelivered certificates will be returned to our office and can be collected after an appointment has been scheduled; alternatively, candidates can arrange to make a payment to cover the costs of sending the certificate a second time. A candidate who has lost a certificate may apply for a form from the British Council for a Certified Statement of Results, for which a fee is charged. Unclaimed certificates will be returned to Cambridge Assessment English after two years.

Candidates that failed the exam can register again. Candidates will pay the full exam fee and have to re-sit all papers. It is not possible to re-sit part of the exam.

The British Council believes that all children have potential and that every child matters – everywhere in the world. The British Council affirms the position that all children have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse as set out in article 19, UNCRC 1989.

The British Council may contact you as part of the collection of anonymous statistical data directly related to the exam you are registering for, and that this data will be used for internal British Council research purposes only to improve the exams service.

Any and all data processing tasks are performed in accordance with any and all relevant local data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as the British Council’s own global policies; the British Council will act as Data Controller in any such instances.

The legal basis on which all data processing activities relating to our exam candidates are carried out is that of Contract (as defined under Article 6 of the GDPR); we are required to store and process your personal details in order to facilitate the performance of the contracted examination services.

The personal details and documentation received by us from our exam candidates are securely stored in access limited folders on our local server, and are accessible only to the relevant members of our exams team; these digital files are retained until two years after the date of the examination in question, as per British Council data retention policy, and are securely destroyed after this period.

The personal details and documentation received by us from our exam candidates will not be processed for any additional purpose(s) to those already stated; should we wish to process your personal data for any additional purpose(s) then we will first contact you for authorisation based on a legal basis of data processing (as defined under Article 6 of the GDPR). This data will be shared with Cambridge Assessment English in order to facilitate the performance of the contracted examination services .This data will not be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) at any point during the period in which we will retain it. You will retain all rights pertaining to your own personal data as defined under the GDPR.

Netherlands Main Office

British Council Netherlands
Raamplein 1
1016 XK Amsterdam
T 020-550 60 60
exams@britishcouncil.nl
www.britishcouncil.nl

 

Exam Centres:

NL001 Noord-Holland and Flevoland
NL003 Zuid-Holland (Den Haag and Rotterdam)
NL005 Utrecht
NL007 Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel
NL071 Gelderland
NL071 Den Bosch and Maastricht

IP Campus
Diemermere 11-19,
1112 TB Diemen
T 020 – 561 8182
exams@ipcampus.nl

NL004 Noord Brabant and Limburg

Janine Bellefroid
De Biestermannen 30
5591 NH Heeze
T 040 - 226 1281
eindhoven@britishcouncil.nl

NL050 Zeeland

Stefan Hopmans
HZ University of Applied Sciences
Edisonweg 4
4382 NW Vlissingen
T 0118 - 489728
cambridge@hz.nl