Cambridge English exams FAQs

Go to our Cambridge exam booking form and choose your exam type and exam date. The form has four pages – Exam, Exam Candidate, Additional Information, and Payment – and then a final ‘Complete’ page. Use the ‘Next’ button to move through the form, and make sure you click the final ‘Book and Pay’ button.

You can pay online with Visa, Mastercard and most other types of card.

We will email you your Confirmation of Entry (CoE). This shows the exact dates, times and places for your exam, and important information for candidates. We send it at least 10 days before the first part of your exam. If you have not received your CoE by then, please email us straight away at exams@ihbristol.com. Please read your CoE and the information with it carefully.

Cambridge English can help people who need access arrangements because of a short-term or long-term difficulty or health condition. See this link for the full list of options.(Opens in a new tab/window) 

If you need special (modified) exam materials, you must ask at least 5 weeks before the exam date, or we may not be able to say yes. Please send all requests for access arrangements in writing to exams@ihbristol.com.

Yes. If you are 18 or over, you must bring a valid passport to your exam. 

We cannot accept any other type of ID. 

If you are under 18, you can bring a National ID card instead of a passport if you prefer.

The most important thing to bring is your ID (see the question above). 

You can also bring a pen, a pencil, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, highlighters and water. 

You cannot bring mechanical pencils, erasable pens, or correction fluid or tape into the exam room. 

Please remember: you cannot use your mobile phone or any electronic device until the end of the written parts of the exam. We keep these in a room that is locked or watched by staff.

If you are taking B2 First (not the ‘for Schools’ version), C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency, you must have your photo taken on the exam day. 

For B1 Preliminary for Schools or B2 First for Schools, you do not have to have your photo taken unless you plan to use this result for immigration purposes.

You must bring a valid photo ID on the exam day. (For C1 Advanced, you must bring the same ID you used when you registered.) If you do not have an acceptable ID, you cannot take the exam.

Acceptable ID (all exams except C1 Advanced): National Identity Card / Citizen Card, passport, driving licence, or Biometric Residence Permit.

Acceptable ID for C1 Advanced: National Identity Card or passport.

If you have a different type of ID, you may not be able to take the exam – please contact us. If you take the C1 Advanced exam outside the country where you live, you must bring your passport or a government national identity card. If your ID is lost or stolen before the exam, please contact us as soon as you can.

We photograph most candidates on the exam day, as an extra identity check. All exams are strictly supervised. If we think someone is pretending to be another person, or breaking the rules in another way, we will report them.

Our goal is to offer a variety of exams for candidates’ convenience.

Exams are available throughout the year. See our exam calendar here for more details.

The venue details will be confirmed in the exam timetables.

If you are a preparation centre (language school) or educational institution with a group of candidates, please contact exams@ihbristol.com for details on holding closed group exam sessions according to your needs.

Paper-based results take 4-6 weeks after the exam date. 

You can download your statement of results on the Cambridge website(Opens in a new tab/window). 

Your ID and secret number are on your Confirmation of Entry (CoE) email received before the test date.

Remember, you have to register first.

Certificates are available approximately 20 days after the results have been released.

Most candidates take a course before the exam, but you do not have to. There are many practice exercises on the Cambridge English website and at Cambridge University Press. 

You can also visit the Cambridge exam preparation course section of our website for more details.

If you cannot take an exam for medical reasons or because of a family emergency (we need a letter in both cases), we will either move your registration to another session or refund your full exam fee. 

Please contact us at exams@ihbristol.com for full details.

If you are late, you cannot come into the exam room. We advise you to arrive 45 minutes before the start time of your first test.

Yes, but you must complete a separate entry form for each examination and pay the fee for each one. 

Please also check that the exams are not at the same time.

Please email us at exams@ihbristol.com as soon as you get your CoE. We will then change your name, so it is printed correctly on your certificate

To pass a Cambridge English exam, you must take every part (paper) of the exam. If you miss a part, you will not get any results, so you cannot pass.

Cambridge has a way to check your results if you have a question. These checks rarely find a mistake, and they do not give feedback on how you did in each paper. There are two stages:

• Stage 1 (full clerical recheck): Cambridge counts all your points again. This costs £25.75, and you get the result within five working days.
• Stage 2 (remark): if your result does not change after Stage 1, you can ask Cambridge to mark all your papers again (not Speaking). This costs £77 for Preliminary and Preliminary for Schools, and £119 for all other exams. You get the result in about three weeks.

Please send your request within 14 days of the date your results came out. (For some exams you can ask later – please contact us.) You must finish Stage 1 and get your Stage 1 result before you can ask for Stage 2. If you would like a recheck, please email us at exams@ihbristol.com.

When we get your certificate from Cambridge (about four to six weeks after the results come out), we will send it to the address you gave us on your application form. This can be an address in the UK or in another country. If you have moved recently and want to change your address, please email your new address to exams@ihbristol.com.

Please email us at exams@ihbristol.com with your new address. If you tell us about an address change on or after your exam dates, there is a £25.00 administration fee. If postage to the new address costs more (for example, an address in another country instead of the UK), we will charge you the difference.