Special consideration: why it’s important to apply by 1 July
18 June 2026
George Martin, Special Requirements Manager
At this busy point in the academic year, we know centres are managing a lot. As the 1 July deadline for June 2026 special consideration applications approaches, we want to remind you how important it is to submit requests on time and make sure the information you provide is complete and accurate.
Our aim is to make sure students receive results in August that reflect any special consideration they are entitled to. To do that, we sometimes need to contact centres for more information after an application has been submitted.
There are a few reasons why this might happen. Your application may have been selected as part of our routine sampling process, we may need more detail to process it, or we may need to clarify something during our quality checks so we can confirm the most appropriate outcome for the candidate.
If we do need more information, we will contact you by email and ask you to reply within 5 working days. This helps us review the application in time and make sure everything is in place before results are issued.
If we do not receive the information we need within that timeframe, the application may be rejected and special consideration may not be applied. If the information reaches us later, we will still review the application, but we may not be able to complete that review before results are released.
Submitting applications by the deadline of 1 July gives us the best chance of completing any necessary checks in time and helps make sure students receive the right outcome on results day. If you miss the deadline, late applications can be submitted until 24 July; however, we cannot guarantee we will be able to process your application in time for results.
You apply for special consideration using our Special consideration online service, which is accessed through Interchange. To help you provide all the information we need when you apply, this year we’ve increased the character limit in the application from 300 to 500 characters. You can find step-by-step guidance on our website.
Stay connected
If you have any questions about special consideration, please get in touch with our Special Requirements Team at srteam@ocr.org.uk.
About the author
George Martin oversees the team responsible for processing requests for access arrangements, reasonable adjustments and special consideration. She joined Cambridge OCR in 2024, having previously worked as an exams officer for 14 years across a range of secondary school settings.
From the same team