IELTS for Academic and General Training: transfer and cancellation policy

You can submit your test date transfer request through this link https://www.eventsforce.net/britishcouncil/5525/home and pay the transfer fee. We will review your request and process it by following the Transfer Policies of the exams of which you registered. Please note that the transfer fee is non-refundable in any circumstances. 

You may transfer your test date:

• five weeks before the scheduled test date (first component) – free of charge
• less than five weeks before the scheduled test date (first component) – a 25% administration fee will be charged
• less than three days before the scheduled test date (first component) – no transfers can be arranged, except in the exceptional circumstances stated below.

Your chosen new test date must be at least fifteen days after the submission of your completed application and within 3 months of the original test date. This is to ensure we have enough seats for the test. 

(E.g. If you submit your application on 1 MAR 2026, you should select a new test date from 16 MAR 2026 onwards.)

If you are unable to attend your IELTS test on the transfer test date, IELTS cancellation policy is that neither a further transfer nor a refund can be given.

Date Transfer or Reschdule Request

If you cancel your regular IELTS test (non-UKVI) up to five weeks before the test date, you will receive a refund minus an administration fee of 25% of the test fee. Please note that refunds can take four to six weeks to process.

No refunds will be allowed for IELTS within five weeks of the test date regardless of:

• chosen a wrong test date
• wrongly booked IELTS test type
• wrong ID type registered
• wrong multiple bookings.

To cancel your regular IELTS (Academic and General Training) test, please log in to the Test Taker Portal and submit a cancellation request, along with an upload of supporting documentation/evidence. 

You may cancel your test:

• five weeks before the scheduled test date (first component) – you will be eligible for a refund of 75% of the cost of the IELTS exam*
• less than five weeks before the scheduled test date (first component) – you will not be eligible for a refund, except in the exceptional circumstances stated below.

*Please note that refunds can take four to six weeks to process.

Exceptional circumstances

• serious medical conditions which prevent you from attending or performing normally on test day; as verified by a medical certificate** from a qualified medical practitioner (does not include minor illness such as a mild cold)
• recent family bereavement
• hardship/trauma – victim of crime, victim of a traffic accident
• other forms of significant hardship

To cancel your IELTS (Academic and General Training) test, please log in to the Test Taker Portal and submit a cancellation request, along with an upload of supporting documentation/evidence. 

** Only copies of medical certificates from a certified medical professional can be accepted. Please keep the original document with you as we may require it for further verification.

You must submit your exception request in writing to the test centre no later than on the first working day after your scheduled test date. Supporting evidence must be submitted within a maximum of five working days after your scheduled test date. Requests without supporting evidence cannot be considered. Your test centre will respond to you via email within seven working days.

If your test centre approves your exception request, you will be able to transfer to a new test date with a 25% administrative fee applied for deferral. In serious cases, you may be eligible for a refund of 75% of the IELTS test fee*. If we do not receive your cancellation request together with the supporting documentation or evidence uploaded to the Test Taker Portal, you will be marked as absent and forfeit all claims. 

If your test centre does not approve your exception request, then the standard transfer and refund policies, detailed above, will apply.

Test Taker Portal

Under certain circumstances outside test centre control, we may have to cancel your test. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, extreme weather conditions, natural disaster, civil unrest, industrial action technical problems, issues at the venue or other types of disruption or disturbance in the local environment. In these circumstances, your test centre will provide you with as much notice as possible and give you the choice of either below.  

The British Council is not liable for any losses you incur as a result of test cancellation.

• A full refund of the price for the IELTS exam*, or;
• A transfer to a future test date.

* An additional bank transfer fee may be deducted by your bank.