What is special consideration?

Centres or candidates can apply for special consideration if a candidate’s performance is affected on the test day by circumstances beyond their control, including but not limited to: 

• Illness on the day of the test 
• Unforeseen distress for the candidate such as a family crisis 
• Significant disruption to the test outside the centre’s control. 

How do you apply for special consideration? 

Candidates can submit an application via the Student pages of our website.

Centres can submit a special consideration form, which is accessed via the Entries Extranet, within five working days of the test date (see the key dates). Any applications received after this date will be rejected. 

For guidance on submitting the form, please see the Entries Extranet user guide. 

You will need to select a reason why the candidate was disadvantaged during the test. Depending on your selection, you may be required to add further detail. All applications for medical reasons will require supporting evidence to be submitted. 

You will receive a confirmation email when you submit the form. We will only contact you regarding an application if more information or supporting evidence is required. Otherwise, we will pass on the notification to the institution(s) the candidate has applied to. 

Please note, we are only able to pass on special consideration notifications, including supporting evidence, to the University of Cambridge, the University of Warwick and Imperial College London.

The decision to take the special consideration into account or not is at the discretion of the universities. No adjustment will be made to the results.