Examination Procedure

There are two ways you can sit the exam:

1. At our Canterbury offices here in the UK in the daytime or of an evening, by appointment. Two weeks notice must be given prior to the date you wish to sit your exam.
or
2. You can sit the exam away from the academy at a location which is convenient to you in any part of the world.
The procedure for point 2 (above) is as follows:
a) You nominate an adjudicator (i.e. supervisor) to oversee the exam. This must be a reputable person such as a police officer, Justice of the Peace, Minister of religion, school principal or your employer. Adjudicators cannot be relatives.
b) Set a date, time and place for the exam (usually held at the adjudicators office).
c) Submit your exam application 4 weeks prior to the nominated date.
d) We will send the exam to the adjudicator.
e) At the set time you attend the nominated place.

The adjudicator will conduct the exam. On completion of the exam, your work is taken by the adjudicator and sent by him/her directly to the academy.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Exams are usually one and a half hours in duration.
Students should bring pens and a few dozen sheets of foolscap or A4 paper with them. No texts or notes are allowed in the exam.
ADL Exam fee is included in your tuition fee except for public exams, ie., the ICB Bookkeeping and RHS Certificates/Diplomas which the student is responsible for paying direct to those organisations.

What are the Exams Like?
See a sample exam below:
Sample Exam: Introduction to Psychology - Adobe PDF

HOW DO WE STRUCTURE EXAMS?
Exams designed to see not only what you know, but how you are able to organise and convey your thoughts when placed on the spot.
We always reserve the right to examine you on anything which has been touched on in your course, even if only in a vague way.
Our main concern is that you have a general understanding of the foundations or underlying principles of the subject you have studied. If you demonstrate such an understanding through both the exam and the assignments you have submitted, you will pass the exam.
Getting all answers correct will generally earn you around 75-80%. The final 20% is awarded for going beyond what is required (e.g. showing creativity or innovation, or answering questions in extra detail).

We record a % mark on your exam paper, and keep a note of it in our records, but in accordance with government education policy your Statement of Attainment records only that you have successfully completed (i.e. Passed) or not yet completed (failed).

SAMPLE EXAMS
We will provide sample exams for some subjects, but not all. You should be careful to not give too much importance to the sample exam. The exam you end up sitting might or might not be very, very different. REMEMBER… we are testing you on how you would perform in the real world, where you can be confronted with totally unexpected problems at any point in time. If we were to make you aware of what to expect in an exam, we would be defeating the purpose of the exam.

DON’T WORRY
Prepare for an exam by refreshing your memory. All you need to do is read through your notes and assignments again once or twice, until the information seems fresh again. People who have successfully completed assignments hardly ever fail exams. The process of completing the assignment almost ensures that you retain sufficient information to pass. Where someone else has helped you a lot with your assignments this might not be the case though (an exam, in many ways, simply verifies that the work you have undertaken, was in fact your own).

HOW MANY EXAMS
Standard Modules (100 hrs duration) have assignments (normally one per lesson), and one exam on completion of all assignment. All assignments, plus the exam must be satisfactorily completed, in order to gain a module credit (or pass). Special circumstances including overall interaction with tutors throughout the course are always taken into account for borderline cases. People who fail are given opportunity to reapply and sit a supplementary exam. Exam fees are additional to course fees.

Project and Research Work:  Non Standard Modules such as Research Projects, Workplace Projects, Workshops and Industry meetings do not have an exam, but adequate and academically sound proof of completion of required work must be produced in order to achieve a pass in such modules.

Non Standard Certificates Courses:  A few courses have different requirements; for example a Certificate in Garden Design involves a set 30 lessons, rather than 6 modules. This certificate has only 4 exams for the entire certificate rather than the usual six.
 
Exam Application Form
You can  download and print the applicable Exam Application form for your situation by clicking here. then forward a completed application form to:

Exam fees are included in the tution fees.  Where a student is sitting for a publicn Exam such as the ICB or the RHS the student is responsible for paying those exam fees direct to that examination body.

EXAMINATION PROCEDURE
On completing all required assignments for a subject you are then entitled to sit for an examination in that subject. If you pass the exam, you are awarded a pass in that subject, and an official letter will be sent from the school acknowledging this.

NOTE: To gain an official Statement of Attainment or to be awarded a qualification (i.e. Certificate, Diploma etc) successful completion of the exams is required.

ALTERNATIVE TO SITTING EXAM
If you find the thought of sitting for an exam daunting, then you may elect to undertake a project instead of sitting an exam.  Projects are usually between 2000 to 3000 words and will be related to the material covered in your course with  three (3) weeks to complete. This option does not apply to the RHS or ICB examinations.