If your child cannot attend the Admissions Exercise for International Students (AEIS) or Supplementary AEIS (S-AEIS), check the candidate instructions for the current exercise and contact the official enquiry channel. Give the exercise, scheduled test date, candidate reference and whether your child has already taken any part of the test. Ask what action is available for your situation and keep a record of the reply.
Make two decisions separately. First, find out what to do about the current sitting. Then, if you need a later intake, check the next exercise’s eligibility, available levels and dates before booking travel or another test. A medical certificate, a travel disruption or an email asking for help should be treated as information for the authority handling the case. Follow the instructions it confirms for your child.
- Find the current candidate instructions and personalised Entry Proof.
- Tell the official contact whether the sitting is upcoming, already missed or partly completed.
- Ask how any documents should be submitted and what deadlines apply.
- Confirm what the current fee and withdrawal rules mean for your situation.
- Check eligibility and schooling arrangements before planning a later intake.
If you know before the test that your child cannot attend
Open the latest Entry Proof and check the date, venue and all papers or sessions that apply. Contact the channel listed in the current instructions. If your child is unwell, follow the relevant health advice. SEAB’s June 2025 instructions specifically directed candidates with a contagious illness to contact MOE and stay away from the test. Check the current exercise’s instructions and follow any directions it gives for your child.
If the problem is a transport disruption or a document emergency, explain what happened and give the date or time you expect it to be resolved. Ask what you should do now. Keep the existing sitting on your calendar until you have dealt with it according to the instructions. Treat any possible replacement sitting as unconfirmed until the official contact confirms it.
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If the test has already been missed
Start with the exact record. Give the scheduled reporting time, whether the child reached the venue and whether they took any paper. If something happened during the test, state what staff told you at the time. A clear timeline helps the authority distinguish an absence from an interrupted or partly completed test.
Ask what will happen to the current application, whether there is anything you need to submit and how to check the outcome. If you were asked to provide a document, keep a copy and use the official submission route. An informal discussion with another family can help you remember a question, but the official reply should guide your next step.
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Check the fee and sitting rules separately
The June 2025 candidate instructions stated that fees would not be refunded when a candidate withdrew or had already taken any part of the test. Read the current exercise’s instructions for the terms that apply and ask the official contact about the facts of your case. The fee question and the availability of another sitting are separate. A reply about one may leave the other open.
If you need to ask both questions, list them clearly in the same enquiry. For example, ask whether your child should take any remaining paper, and separately ask whether the circumstances affect the fee. Save the written answer with the Entry Proof and application reference.
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Plan the next intake around your child’s schooling
If the family will consider a later application, check the latest age and level table and the school-start dates. For primary applicants who need Cambridge English Qualifications evidence, also check whether the existing statement will still meet the applicable date, test and score rules. Put the potential exam dates and the child’s present schooling dates on separate lines.
A missed test can feel like a setback for a child who prepared hard. Tell them what is known now and give them a routine they can rely on next week. Keep the practice that remains useful, such as reading multi-step instructions and explaining how they solved a maths problem. Set a review date when the adults can check the next admissions option.
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Worked example
A family has a travel disruption the evening before the test. The parent finds the Entry Proof, records the scheduled session and contacts the official channel with the child’s reference. They ask which current instructions apply and whether they need to submit any supporting information. They postpone booking a new trip until they know what is possible.
When the next exercise is published, they check the child’s level and schooling dates before planning another application. In the meantime, the child stays in their current learning routine and the family makes one short weekly plan for practice.
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Frequently asked questions
Will SEAB automatically move the test to another date?
Ask the official contact what options apply to your exercise and situation. Use only a confirmed date when arranging attendance or travel.
Should I say if my child already took one paper?
Yes. Tell the authority which session your child attended and which one they missed. The candidate instructions distinguish withdrawal from cases where a candidate took any part of the test.
Is a later application the same as transferring my original registration?
Check the next exercise’s application and eligibility requirements separately. Ask about the current application through the official channel.
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