Frequently Asked Questions

For A Level and GCSE exams: morning exams start at 9.00am and afternoon exams start from 1.00pm. On-demand exams or vocational exams may have different start times – consult the Exam Officer.

For morning exams, we recommend that you arrive at 8.30am. For afternoon exam we recommend that you arrive at 12.30pm. For all computer based exams other than General Qualifications, please arrive atleast 15 minutes before the exam start time.

You must contact the Centre if you believe you will be late for the exam. Candidates who arrive 30 minutes after the exam has started may not be able to sit the exam and the awarding organisation might not accept your exam paper. Candidates who arrive after their exam has finished will not be permitted to sit the exam.

For most Computer Based Tests, you will be not allowed to take exam 15 minutes after the starting time. Check with your awarding body awarding body regarding late arrivals.

You should contact the Exams Officer if you are unable to attend the exam. If you have experienced an unavoidable exceptional circumstance beyond your control that has caused you to miss your exam, you may be able to apply for special consideration, but you must provide evidence. Please speak to the examination officer who will be able to advise you.

YA Level and GCSE exam dates are not changeable; you cannot sit them at a later date. You will have to re-sit the papers at the next re-sit opportunity. You will not receive a refund for the exams you did not attend and will need to pay for the resit exams.

You must contact the Exams Officer immediately.

You must contact the Exams Officer immediately.

All exams are held at our Centre at Ark Education Centre, 388, High Road, IG1 1TL.

No.

No. Certain subjects must be sat at the schedued time. The examination officer will give your schedule and which exam to sit first.

You must bring a black pen, pencils, any mathematical instruments and permitted calculators, and any other equipment required for the exam. You are not allowed to bring any form of watch in to the exam room. Highlighters are permitted bring in to the exam room, but you must only write answers in black pen. Pencil cases must be transparent and water bottles must be transparent with no labels. If you require medication during your exam, speak to the Exams Office or invigilator beforehand. If you are unsure whether your calculator is permitted, speak to the Exam Officer well before the exam. If your calculator is not authorised, you will not be allowed to use your calculator and may be given a permitted calculator. Water bottles are not allowed in the computer lab and for Computer based tests.

No. You may be given a small break depedning on the length of your exams. Speak to the examination officer.

You cannot bring any electronic devices into the exam room. You cannot bring coats, scarves, or hats into the exam room, without prior arrangement with the Exams Officer. You cannot bring food into the exam room, without prior arrangement with the Exams Officer. You cannot bring dictionaries into the exam room – if you are entitled to a dictionary this will be provided by the Exams Officer.

NO MOBILE PHONES

NO POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGICAL/WEB ENABLED SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Possession of unauthorised items, such as a mobile phone or any watch, is a serious offence and could result in DISQUALIFICATION from your examination and your overall qualification.

Candidates found to have brought prohibited items into the exam room will dealt as per the Centre Exams Policy and are liable for disqualification.

There is no set dress code. You are welcome to wear comfortable smart casual clothes on the exam day. You will not be allowed to wear scarfs and outdoor jackets during the exam. If you are wearing a niqab, you will be able to confirm your ID in private to one of the female staff at the centre. Once your ID has been confirmed you can wear back the niqab and will be guided to the examination room.

You should contact the Exam Officer immediately.

For GCSE and A Level exams, please do not bring large bags and valuable items since we have limited storage space available. you will be able to store away any personal belongings such as your Phone and ID from the exam room. You will not be able to access them until the exam is completed. Personal belongings are stored at your own risk.

For computer based exams, you will be given a locker to store your personal belongings.

You should contact the Exam Officer immediately.

Centre does not provide coloured overlays for exams – you must provide your own. We cannot give you one if you forget yours.

No, you must not leave the exam room if you are entitled to supervised rest breaks. Rest breaks are supervised at your exam desk, and you will not have access to your question paper or answer booklet. If you require a toilet break you will be escorted to the designated restroom by an invigilator.

No, you will not get any extra time for going to the toilet during an exam.

You may leave the exam room after the key times have passed. Speak to the invigilator if you wish leave and they will let you know when you are authorised to leave the exam room. You will not be allowed back in once you have left.

You must check the front of your exam paper to ensure everything has been completed before the end of exam. Candidate number, paper code and where applicable sign your name, the invigilators will not be able to complete any missing information. All answer booklets are checked by staff before being sent off to the awarding organisations for marking, but if you have any concerns please come to the Exams Office.

No. You will need to come in person to collect both results sheet and certificates. We are unable to post your results and we will not be able to give results over the phone.

Yes. Parents/guardians or friends can collect results on behalf of a candidate by only following the below procedure:

1. The candidate must give written permission that explicitly names the person who will collect their results. This can be done by the candidate emailing info@arkexamcentre.co.uk from their candidate email address (Provided at the time of registration), or by giving the Exams Officer a signed letter.

2. The person collecting results must have photographic ID of themselves.

The Centre is open from 9.00am to 3.00pm on the results day. You can come during this time.

Yes, please contact the Exams Officer.

You can request to get a remark. There is a charge for this. All post-results enquiries carry a fee; the awarding bodies set fees. If grades are amended as a result of an enquiry the exam board fee will not be charged; the examination centre fees will still apply. Please ask at the centre for more details.

You will receive an email to notify when the certificates arrive in the Exams Office. You will need to come in person or arrange someone to collect your certificate.

You will have to contact the awarding organisation directly to request and pay for replacement certificates. We can assist you if you require your candidate or registration number.

We hold certificates for 12 months in the Exams Office before destroying them, in line with the Data Protection Act.

No, we do not keep copies of certificates. You will need to contact the awarding organisations directly for replacements.

We only hold Candidate information for seven years, in line with the Data Protection Act. If it is more than seven years ago we will not have any information.

We may be able to help you, please contact the Exams Officer.

Contact the Centre on 020 3441 7272 or write to us in info@arkexamcentre.co.uk.