How to Cancel IELTS Exam? - Cancellation and Refund Policy

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Maybe you’re not ready for the IELTS exam, or something urgent came up. Whatever the reason, if you need to cancel your IELTS test, don’t worry — it’s totally possible. You just need to know when to cancel, how to do it, and what refund you can expect.

The IELTS cancellation policy states that candidates can cancel their IELTS registrations (test dates) up to 15 days from the date of the exam by visiting their test taker profile and raising an IELTS cancellation request, online. Candidates can also opt for the IELTS cancellation request offline by submitting the Test Date Transfer & Cancellation /Refund Application Form to the test center where they have booked their IELTS test date.

To cancel your IELTS exam paper based, candidates need to pay a IELTS cancelation fees of Rs. 4,500, including all taxes, as an administrative charge. Candidates must note that if IELTS cancellation requiest will be submitted 9 days before the test date, the balance of IELTS test fees of Rs. 13,500 inclusive of all taxes will be refunded to the applicant within 10 - 12 working days from the date of application.

In order to cancel IELTS on Computer, one needs to pay IELTS cancellation fees of Rs. 4,500. If the IELTS cancellation request is submitted 9 days before the test date, the balance of IELTS test fees of Rs. 13,500 will be refunded to the applicant within 10 - 12 working days from the date of application. Any IELTS cancellation requests submitted less than 9 days before the test date will not be accepted, and the candidate will not get any IELTS fees refund for any test mode.

Details on how to cancel the IELTS exam – step by step have been provided below. However, the final decision on the IELTS cancellation request would rest upon IELTS IDP India/ IELTS Test Centres.

How to Cancel IELTS Exam - Online Method (step-by-step)

Candidates looking to cancel their IELTS exam - online are required to closely follow the steps mentioned below as part of the IELTS cancellation policy:

1. Candidates looking to raise an IELTS cancellation request are required to visit the IELTS IDP India official website and log in to their test taker profile (Candidate Login Section) by putting in their credentials
2. Candidates should note that they will only be able to cancel their IELTS test dates if the test date is at least 15 days before the actual date of the exam (excluding the exam date)
3. Candidates who raise an IELTS cancellation request 15 – 34 days before the test date will have to submit their cancellation request along with providing supporting documents and is subject to approval
4. For 34 days and above and if payment is made online, IELTS test takers can cancel their IELTS test registrations by just stating the reason. No document is required
5. Once you have submitted your IELTS cancellation request, you will receive an acknowledgement pop-up with all the details of your IELTS test cancellation details
6. Candidates would be required to wait for 3 days to hear back from the IELTS people on confirmation of their IELTS test cancellation
7. Once your cancellation request has been approved, your refund will be processed in 10-12 working days after the deduction of administrative charges. The refund amount would be reversed to the same card/ account used during the online registration.

How to Cancel IELTS Exam – Offline Method

Candidates looking to cancel their IELTS exam from the Test Center (offline) need to follow the steps mentioned below as part of IELTS cancellation policy:

How to Cancel IELTS Exam - Refund Policy: IELTS test takers who are looking to cancel their IELTS exam are required to raise an IELTS cancellation request by using the Test Date Transfer & Cancellation /Refund Application Form along with the original receipt of payment of the IELTS exam fee. If the cancellation request is received 15 days prior to the test date, candidates would be eligible to get part of their IELTS test fee refunded inclusive of all taxes within ten to twelve working days from the date of application submission. Candidates should note that requests received less than 15 days prior to the test date will not be entertained.

IELTS Cancellation Refund Amount

How to Reschedule your IELTS exam - Online Method (step by step)

How to Cancel IELTS exam: While rescheduling your IELTS exam is not a cancellation, however, it does allow the candidate to appear for the IELTS test on a different date than earlier registered. Let us closely analyze the IELTS reschedule policy - online. 

• Candidates looking to raise an IELTS reschedule request are required to visit the IELTS IDP India official website and log in to their test taker profile (Candidate Login Section) by putting in their credentials
• Candidates should note that they will only be able to reschedule their IELTS test dates if the initial test date is at least 15 days away from the date of the exam (excluding the exam date)
• For 34 days and above and if payment is made online, IELTS test takers can reschedule their IELTS test registrations without having to provide any reason
• Candidates who raise an IELTS reschedule request 15 – 34 days away from the test date will have to submit their IELTS test date transfer request along with providing supporting documents which are subject to approval. Supporting documents include but are not limited to:
  • Medical certificate
  • Death/Cremation certificate or letter from a doctor
  • Police FIR
  • Passport renewal receipt/ receipt from the immigration department
• Once you have submitted your IELTS date transfer request, you will receive an acknowledgement pop-up with details of your IELTS test date rescheduling request
• Candidates would be required to wait for three (3) days to hear back from IELTS on their date transfer request
• If your date transfer is not accepted the test taker will be informed by email and SMS
• Once your transfer request is verified you will be asked to proceed to the next step
• Go ahead and select your preferred date and city. Read and accept the terms and conditions
• Upload your passport copy
• Choose your preferred payment gateway and make the payment online
• Once your payment has gone through, you will get a confirmation of your date transfer request along with the details of your new test centre/date.  

Also Read:

• IELTS Eligibility
• IELTS FAQs

How to Cancel IELTS Exam: IELTS Test Date Transfers (offline)

Candidates who are looking to either postpone or prepone their IELTS test dates can do so by using the Test Date Transfer & Cancellation/Refund Application Form for transferring a pre-booked test date. However, there are certain rules that need to be followed for requesting a transfer. The request for transfer of the IELTS test dates must be raised at least 15 days prior to the original test date. The allocation of the new IELTS test date is at the sole discretion of the test centre and is subject to availability. However, candidates would be required to pay a transfer fee for availing the service. The transfer fee must be made using the payment options mentioned below. Candidates should note that no transfer requests will be made less than fifteen (15) days prior to the original test date.

IELTS Transfer Request Fee

How to Cancel IELTS Exam - Extraordinary Circumstances

How to Cancel IELTS exam - In the above, we have talked about how IELTS test cancellations and transfers should ideally be made prior to 15 days from the actual test date. So what happens if you have crossed the 15-day threshold and up to the day of the exam? Well, in most cases you would lose your IELTS registration money if you are unable to appear for the test. However, IELTS has made certain exceptions that allow candidates to raise a date transfer request under ‘extraordinary circumstances’ provided subject to approval by the IELTS IDP India.

Extraordinary circumstances include

• Serious illness - linked to hospital admission or other serious illness making the candidate not able to sit the test. For example, typhoid, jaundice, eye flu, infectious disease, surgery etc. Please note, that ordinary viral fever, cough & cold, stomach upset etc. will not be considered
• Serious injury - linked to hospital admission, or injury such as fracture of the hand used for writing etc.
• Loss or bereavement - death of a close family member, hardships/trauma
• Victim of Crime
• Victim of a traffic accident
• Loss of Passport after applying for the test
• Passport submitted to passport office for any services, after applying

Candidates can only request a date transfer under 'extraordinary circumstances' and the test taker must submit an application in writing, along with the relevant document (original or certified copy) attested by a first-class government officer. The candidate would be required to bring the original from the below list of documents along with the application and show it to the Test Centre

• Medical certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner and bearing his/her registration number
• Hospital admission certificate and discharge summary (in case of hospitalization)
• Police report/FIR
• Death certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner and bearing his/her registration number
• Receipt from the passport office detailing the passport number and the expected date of when the passport will be returned

Once such a request has been received, the test center would either accept or reject their request without giving a reason. Once an application is accepted under Extraordinary Circumstances, only a transfer request will be considered, and an administrative charge will be levied. The request for such cases will be considered on a case-to-case basis and the decision of the Centre will be final and binding. The allocation of the next date of the test will be at the sole discretion of the Centre, subject to availability and on a case-to-case basis.

How to Cancel IELTS Exam: Accepted Payment Modes

The following payment modes are accepted by IELTS IDP India:

It is always wise to be sure before going ahead with the IELTS date selection as test date transfers and cancellations are only going to cost you money and are a lengthy process. It is highly advisable that candidates opt for such services only when absolutely necessary. Candidates can also get in touch with our Shiksha Study Abroad Counsellors for assistance with University admissions, here.