Special Consideration

We recognise that some candidates may sit their (May/November) exams in difficult circumstances. You can apply for special consideration if you feel that your performance was affected by serious personal circumstances (such as illness or close bereavement over or immediately preceding the exam period or if you experienced a particular problem on the day) or technical issues during your exam.

In instances where an occurrence is known to have affected all candidates, an acknowledgement email will be sent. These events will automatically be reported to the Examination Committee.


Important Information

In the normal course of events, after reviewing special consideration requests, CIOT have the capacity to make only limited adjustments. In cases where a candidate has not passed the exam, CIOT may be unable to decide whether the result was due to the circumstances outlined in the special consideration or due to the knowledge and skills displayed by the candidate. It is not possible to fully compensate a candidate for what might have been achieved.

Unfortunately, certain situations that you believe affected you might not be considered significant enough to warrant an adjustment to your exam results. Some examples are below:

• Relating to a delayed exam start for all students in the test centre lasting less than 30 minutes.

• Connected to situations where you failed to follow CIOT instructions, including those provided by an invigilator.

• Issues with LexisNexis or Croner-I legislation.

• Relating to minor health issues such as common colds.

• Involving minor disturbances such as keyboard noise.

• Linked to actions taken by invigilators for the proper administration of the exam.

• Where the evidence supplied is a statutory sick note, which does not have sufficient medical detail.

• Where the request is supported by evidence from family or friends.

• Where you request CIOT to gather personal evidence on your behalf.


How to apply*

You must apply within two weeks of sitting your exam. You must submit an application form and ensure you have these correct details when applying:

  • Your unique five digit candidate number
  • Evidence to upload for serious personal circumstances, for example recent, relevant medical documentation** 
  • Any relevant evidence if you experience technical issues during your exam
  • Explanation drafted of the issues (maximum of 500 words)
     

Note that under no circumstances will applications submitted after the publication of exam results be considered.

* Applications based on issues that occurred but where no contact was made to the CIOT to resolve beforehand, or at the time, may be rejected. 

** For applications for serious personal circumstances, where supporting evidence is not provided, the application will not be accepted.

 

What happens next

  • You will receive an acknowledgement of your application within 14 days of submission. (This may be after the application deadline.)
     
  • Acceptance of your application does not automatically mean a passing exam result will be awarded.
     
  • All scripts are marked as normal and are identified by candidate number only. Our examiners are not informed of special consideration requests and have no prior knowledge of candidates circumstances
     
  • The Examination Committee will review accepted applications (identified by candidate number only), all decisions are discretionary and cannot be appealed
     
  • You will receive your exam results as normal on results day, you will not be informed of the outcome of the meeting or if consideration was applied to your result


Your mark is final, however you may apply for a marks breakdown or recheck (this is not a remark) if eligible.