Entry week for the spring sitting
Your body runs professional exams twice a year, which student members take on the way to full membership. Entries open for the spring sitting. Students fill in an entry form, choose papers and pay. The exams team checks each entry: is the student a current member, have they passed the prerequisite papers, do they have an exemption from their degree, have they requested special arrangements with evidence?
The checks are done against spreadsheets of past results and exemptions. A student enters for a paper they are not yet eligible for, and it is caught after the entry has closed. Another's exemption was granted by email two years ago and is not in the spreadsheet. On results day, results are emailed to students in batches, and the team spends a week answering questions about what students can sit next.
Why exam admin is so manual
Exam rules are detailed, and each student's history sits across several spreadsheets and email threads.
- Eligibility depends on prerequisites, membership status and time limits.
- Exemptions are granted by email and recorded inconsistently.
- Special arrangements need evidence and approval before the sitting.
- Results are held in spreadsheets from each sitting.
- Students cannot see their own progress towards qualifying.
- Venue or online sitting allocation is done by hand.
The underlying gap is a single progress record per student that the entry process can read.
What manual exam admin costs
Invalid entries found late are distressing for students, who may have planned their study around a sitting. Missing exemptions mean students are asked to sit papers they should not need to. The exams team's time is taken up with checking and answering questions students could answer themselves with the right view.
Errors in exam administration are serious for a professional body, because the qualification is its reputation. Your exam regulations and decisions stay your own; the aim is to apply them accurately every time.
How we build exam administration
- Each student member has a progress record: papers passed, exemptions granted, attempts, and time limits under your regulations.
- Entries are made from the student's account, and only papers they are eligible for are offered, with the reason shown for anything unavailable.
- Exemption applications are made online with evidence, decided by staff, and recorded on the progress record.
- Special arrangement requests are submitted with evidence before a deadline and approved by the right person, and approved arrangements carry through to the sitting.
- Fees are paid at entry, and sittings are allocated to venues or online sessions by your rules.
- Results are loaded from the marking process, checked, and released to students on results day in their accounts, with the next papers they can enter shown.
- When all requirements are met, the student is flagged for transfer to the qualified grade.
| Check at entry | Source | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Current student member | Membership record | Entry allowed or renewal prompt |
| Prerequisite papers passed | Progress record | Paper offered or reason shown |
| Exemption held | Progress record | Paper not required |
| Attempts and time limits | Progress record and your regulations | Entry allowed or referred to staff |
If you use an assessment or proctoring platform for the exams themselves, we connect to it rather than replacing it.
The exam cycle afterwards
Students enter from their account and see only the papers they can sit. Exemptions granted last year are already there. Special arrangements are approved well before the sitting. On results day, students see their results and their next options in their account, and the exams team handles genuine queries rather than routine ones.
When a student completes their final paper, the membership team is told they are ready to move to the qualified grade.
Recognise your exams admin?
- Entries are checked against spreadsheets after they close.
- Exemptions are recorded in emails.
- Results are sent out in batches by email.
- Students ask what they can sit next.
- Qualified students are moved to a new grade by hand.