Exams terms and conditions

Conditions of entry

Condition of Entry

It is a condition of entry to the ABDO Examinations that the candidate accepts that the Examiners’ decisions are final.

In the event of failure of any Theory Examination a report may be requested, on payment of the appropriate fee and within the timescale.  No further correspondence will be entered into.

Receipts for examination fees can be downloaded from your Membership dashboard under the heading ‘view your receipts’.

Data Protection

We recognise that your privacy is important. Information provided on this form will be held securely by ABDO and used only in relation to the conduct of examinations on the basis of legitimate interest by the data controller (ABDO), the Awarding Organisation (ABDO), government and regulatory bodies, such as SQA Accreditation, if there is a requirement to do so or a relevant third party (for example other educational bodies or universities and the General Optical Council (GOC).Information given on this form will not be made available to examiners and will not affect your result. Information will not be passed to any third parties for marketing purposes. For further information, please see our GDPR guidance for examination candidates

Confirmation of Examination Dates

Examination Confirmation letters stating the date, time and venue of your examination can be found on your personalised exams dashboard on the ABDO website. Once dates have been confirmed, these will not be changed under any circumstances.  Please ensure you print your letter and keep in a safe place as you must present it at the examination for registration purposes.

Dispensing FQE Unit 12 – PQP submission

If you are eligible to apply for Unit 12, please be aware that your PQP will be required to be complete and submitted by 31 March for the Summer exam session and 31 October for the Winter exam session.  Therefore, you are advised not to apply for Unit 12 if you know it will not be ready by the submission date.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals from any examination(s) must be made on a “Request to Withdraw from Examination(s)” form which can be downloaded from the Examinations Information page of the ABDO website or your examinations dashboard.

Please refer to the Request to Withdraw form for full withdrawal terms and conditions relevant to your syllabus.

Policy for candidates withdrawing from and ABDO Examination

• A candidate who does not attend an examination due to exceptional circumstances, can apply for a partial refund, unless they fall into the categories outlined below for which no refund will be provided.
• If a candidate’s refund request is successful, the candidate will be expected to re-apply for the next examination session via the online booking system and enclosing the appropriate examination fee.
• A cancelled entry and examination fee already paid cannot be transferred from one session to the next.
• All refund requests must be made in writing as soon as possible and included with the “Request to Withdraw from an Examination(s) form”.
• Exceptional Personal Circumstances, Illness or injury – a refund may be awarded for a withdrawal on compassionate grounds, such as bereavement or personal trauma (documentary evidence must be provided with the withdrawal form, i.e. medical certificate).

Cancellation Fees:

Reasons for a Withdrawal for which no refund will be made:

• Candidate not ready for examination;
• Candidate withdrawn by Training Institute;
• Candidates’ PQP Folder / Case Records not submitted by deadline;
• Submitted PQP folder / Case Records incomplete resulting in removal from exam;
• Transport issue (Candidates sitting a morning practical examination are advised to travel the day before);
• Candidate on holiday on date of examination.

In the event a candidate needs to withdraw on the day of their Practical Examination, candidates should email the following contacts:

For Contact Lens Examinations
Mark Chandler, mchandler@abdo.org.uk

Dean Dunning, ddunning@abdo.org.uk

For Dispensing Examinations
Mark Chandler, mchandler@abdo.org.uk

Miranda Richardson,mrichardson@abdo.org.uk