Cambridge English Complaints Policy
Our global network of exam centres are responsible for delivering our tests and providing candidates with an excellent level of service. If the service you received has fallen below your expectations and you wish to complain, please contact your exam centre directly in the first instance. If you don’t know their contact details, please ask the school that you registered with. They can provide you with the exam centre’s contact details.
If you have an issue which meant that you could not perform to the best of your ability due to adverse circumstances immediately before or during an exam you can request Special Consideration. Please raise this with your exam centre and they will complete the relevant form.
If you have a query about your exam result, please see how to enquire on a result, or appeal a result through the Results Enquiry and Appeal procedure.
What to do if you have a complaint
If you are a candidate, parent or school
Each of our exam centres has its own internal complaints policy and you should contact your centre directly in the first instance. Examples of complaints that your centre can help you with include:
- the way an exam was administered
- centre staff behaviour
- the conduct of a Speaking Examiner
- a malpractice decision
- the application of standard processes (for example, special consideration, enquiry on results, appeals)
- the delivery or assessment of a Teaching Qualifications course.
If you have done this but you are not happy with the outcome, please get in touch with us. Some issues can only be investigated by your centre, but we’ll do our best to help.
If you wish to complain about a Cambridge English employee, please contact us directly.
Registering a complaint with Cambridge English
To help us investigate your concerns promptly, please submit your complaint in writing with as much detail as possible including:
- your full name
- contact details (such as email address, postal address and phone number)
- details of the exam you have taken, including the date it was taken on
- copies of all previous correspondence with your centre, as well as the outcome of their internal complaints procedure.
You can submit your complaint to us using our online request form. You will then be contacted by our Helpdesk and asked to supply any further details needed to investigate your complaint.
If your complaint is Teaching Award related or you would like to provide feedback, please see our Teaching qualifications complaints page.
We aim to provide you with an acknowledgment to your complaint within two working days. As part of our investigation into your concerns, where applicable, we will contact your centre to discuss the matter with them, unless you explicitly state that you do not wish for us to do so. We endeavour to respond to all complaints within 10 working days. Some complaints, due to their complexity, may need a longer investigation period. We will keep you informed where this is the case.
If you have any questions regarding a complaint, please contact the Cambridge English Helpdesk.
Service with Respect Policy
Cambridge English is a member of the Institute of Customer Service and we support their ‘Service with Respect’ campaign.
It is our aim to ensure that all customers are given a high-quality service. We value feedback from exam centres, preparation centres, parents and candidates as it allows us to continually assess the way we work and make improvements where necessary. We respond to all complaints received and it is our aim to resolve concerns raised by our customers as quickly as possible.
Cambridge English expects that all customers, including those raising complaints, will show our staff respect and courtesy during all correspondence. Please note that we will not be able to proceed with the investigation of a complaint that we consider unacceptable.
Cambridge English considers a complaint or enquiry to be unacceptable if abusive or offensive language is used over any of our communications channels or intimidating/threatening behaviour is directed towards our staff.
Exam security whistleblowing
Cambridge English Qualifications have enhanced security built into every stage of the exam process. From the production of papers to the day of the exam, we ensure our exams are fair to all learners and reflect their true level of English.
If you want to notify us of any concerns about exam security, please fill in this form.
Please note: The whistleblowing process is not for resolving issues, and you may not receive a reply.