You must …
 
•   provide proof of your identity (passport or national identity card) at registration. This identity document must contain a number, a signature, a date of birth and a photograph. You should contact your test centre who will tell you which type of identity document they accept. Candidates taking the test outside their own country must produce a passport.
 
•   inform the test centre of any changes to your identity document before the test date. If you do not do this you will not be allowed to take the test and you will not be eligible for a refund or transfer
 
•   bring the same identity document on the test day as the one recorded on your Application Form. If you do not do this you will not be allowed to take the test and you will not be eligible for a refund or transfer.
 
•   arrive at the test centre before the scheduled test start time. If you arrive late:
   – you will not be admitted to the test room.

   – you will not be allowed to take any of the test components.
   – you will not be eligible for a refund or transfer.
 

•   leave personal belongings outside the test room. The following items may not be taken into the test room: bags, correction fluid, highlighter pens and electronic devices such as mobile phones, pagers, recorders, mp3 players and dictionaries. Candidates must ensure that mobile phones and pagers which are left outside the test room are switched off. Any candidate who does not switch off their phone or pager, or takes any electronic device into the test room, will not be allowed to complete the test and will not receive an IELTS test result or be eligible for a refund or transfer. Candidates must not bring valuables to the test centre as the test centre cannot be responsible for these.
 
•   consent for your identity to be verified either at test registration or on test day. This may include:
   – having your photograph taken.
 

You will be required to temporarily remove any covering from your face. Any candidate who refuses to have a photograph taken will not be permitted to sit the test and will not be entitled to a refund. The photograph taken by the test centre will appear on your Test Report Form.
 
   – providing a sample of your signature.
   – having your finger-scan taken.
 
•   keep only the following items on your desk: your identity document, pen(s), pencil(s) and eraser(s).
 
•   tell the test supervisor or invigilator at once:
   – if you think you have not been given the correct question paper.
   – if the question paper is incomplete or illegible.
 
•   raise your hand to attract attention if you are in doubt about what you should do. An invigilator will come to your assistance. Candidates may not ask for, and will not be given, any explanation of the test questions.
 
•   inform the test supervisor or invigilator on the day of the test, if you believe that your performance may be affected by ill health, by the way in which the test is delivered at the centre or for any other reason. If you have a complaint relating to the delivery of the test, you must submit your complaint to the test centre before you leave the centre on test day. The IELTS Test Partners will not accept complaints relating to the delivery of the test after test day.
 
•   when leaving the test room at the end of the test, leave behind all test materials. The test materials include, but are not limited to, question papers, Speaking tasks, answer sheets/booklets and any paper used for rough work. Any candidate who attempts to remove test materials from the test room will be disqualified and will not receive an IELTS test result.

You must not …
 

•   talk to or disturb other candidates once the test has started.
 

•   lend anything to, or borrow anything from, another candidate during the test.
 

•   eat or smoke in the test room.
 

•   leave the test room without the permission of the test supervisor or invigilator.
 

•   leave your seat until all test materials have been collected and you have been told you can leave.
 

•   engage in any form of malpractice which may damage the integrity and security of the IELTS test. Malpractice includes, but is not limited to:
 

– attempting to cheat in any way.
 

– impersonating another candidate or having another person impersonate you.
 

– copying the work of another candidate.
 

– disrupting the test in any way.
 

– reproducing any part of the test in any medium.
 

– attempting to alter the data on the Test Report Form.

 
 

Candidates engaging in malpractice will not be allowed to complete the test and will not receive an IELTS test result. Candidates who are found to have engaged in malpractice on test day after their result has been issued will have their result cancelled. Candidates engaging in malpractice may be liable to legal action.

 

Your IELTS test result
 

•   Results are issued by test centres, usually 13 days after the test.
 

•   You will receive only one copy of your Test Report Form. The test centre is not permitted to issue a replacement copy in the event of loss or damage.
 

•   The Test Report Form will be issued in your name as it appears on the identity document used at registration. If you find that your personal details are incorrect on the Test Report Form, please contact the centre where you took the test to request changes. Documentation must be provided to verify the correct details. If the centre is unable to assist with your request for a change to your personal details please contact IDP ([email protected]) or British Council ([email protected]) or IELTS USA ([email protected]) for further advice.
 

•   If you change your name after receiving your Test Report Form, the name will not be changed on the Test Report Form. In the unusual event that
 

a replacement Test Report Form is approved centrally by the IELTS Test Partners, it will be issued with the name provided on the original Test Report Form.
 

•   Your result may not be issued 13 days after the test if any of the IELTS Test Partners deem it necessary to review any matter associated with your test or the administration of your test. In exceptional circumstances you may be required to re-take one or more IELTS components.
 

•   The Test Report Form may be cancelled after it has been issued if any irregularity is identified. You may be required to re-take one or more IELTS components.
 

•   Your result will be disclosed by the IELTS Test Partners to the Recognising Organisations which you nominated on your Application Form, for the purpose of allowing those organisations to verify the result or to carry out any enquiries in relation to suspected malpractice.
 

•   If any of the data on the Test Report Form provided by you or your agent to Recognising Organisations has been altered in any way, your original test result may be cancelled by the IELTS Test Partners.
 

•   You will not be permitted access to the work you produce in the IELTS test. The IELTS Test Partners will retain the work you produce to assess your test performance, and it may be used for quality control purposes and research activities.

Cancelling your IELTS test or­ requesting a transfer
 

•   If you cancel your test or request a transfer five weeks or more before the test date, the test centre will charge an administration fee of up to 25% of the total test fee.
 

•   If you cancel your test within five weeks of the test date for any reason apart from medical ones, you will not be eligible to receive a refund. If you cancel your test or request a transfer within five weeks of the test date for medical reasons, you must provide supporting medical evidence within five working days of the test date. Only evidence of serious illness will be considered. Only original medical certificates will be accepted and must state inability to appear for the test on the scheduled test date.

How IELTS uses your information
 

•   The IELTS Test Partners recognise and support the right of genuine IELTS test candidates to privacy.
 

•   Test Report Forms will only be sent to those Recognising Organisations nominated by the IELTS candidate on their Application Form or at the request of the candidate after the issue of results.
 

•   The IELTS Test Partners or their authorised representatives may share candidate personal data including without limitation test performance or score data or photographs taken by the IELTS test centre with educational institutions, governments (including visa processing authorities), professional bodies and commercial organisations that recognise IELTS scores (‘Recognising Organisations’) or law enforcement agencies and appropriate regulatory authorities where required for verification purposes or other purposes to protect the IELTS test and its stakeholders against any form of malpractice. Finger-scan data, where obtained, will not be disclosed to any entity except the IELTS Test Partners.
 

The IELTS Test Partners may use IELTS test score data and test responses, in an anonymous form, for informational, research, statistical or training purposes.