Fitness to Test and Mitigating Circumstances
Candidates who attend their test are declaring that they are ‘Fit to Test’ and are therefore not aware of any mitigating circumstances that will affect their performance.
Candidates may experience mitigating circumstances that mean they are unable to declare themselves ‘Fit to Test’.
'Mitigating circumstances' include:
- Candidate illness or injury at or near the time of testing.
- Flare-up or significant worsening of a candidate’s existing disability or medical condition (i.e. difficulties over and above those supported by approved access arrangements) at or near the time of testing.
- Death of a member of the candidate’s immediate family (parent/carer, spouse, sibling or child), usually within 6 months of the last test date.
- Death of a member of the candidate’s extended family (grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin) or close friend, usually within 2 months of the last test date.
- A member of the candidate’s immediate family (parent/carer, spouse, sibling or child) or extended family (grandparent, aunt/uncle, cousin) is affected by a significant illness at or near the time of testing. This would normally involve a recent diagnosis of a life-threatening illness or the family member being towards the end stage of a terminal illness.
- Serious crisis or incident leading to distress at or near the time of testing.
- Safeguarding concerns at or near the time of testing.
Candidates experiencing mitigating circumstances should follow the advice on this page.
Candidates with mitigating circumstances that might adversely affect their performance on the day, should not sit the test. This applies even if they fall ill or experience issues on the day of their test and would have to pay the test fee again to rebook. They should reschedule their test to later in the test window (13 July – 24 September).
Candidates experiencing mitigating circumstances who are unable to declare themselves fit to test before testing ends, or unable to reschedule their test in the final week of testing, should not sit the test and should contact the UCAT Consortium Office promptly for advice and support.
UCAT will not normally take any action where candidates have sat their test and subsequently report mitigating circumstances.
Candidates contacting the UCAT Consortium Office for advice and support should submit a Help Request via their UCAT account and provide the following information:
- Test date
- The precise nature of the circumstances affecting them, including when the circumstances first began to affect them and when they are likely to end or if they are ongoing.
- The impact these circumstances are having on their ability to test.
Candidates should contact the UCAT Consortium Office in a timely manner (before testing) unless exceptional mitigating circumstances prevent this.
UCAT may require independent supporting evidence to consider a case which will be discussed with the individual candidate. Lack of evidence should not delay candidates making contact.
Candidates who become unwell during testing are permitted to stop their test and can be supported to arrange a new test booking. This includes flare-ups or significant worsening of a candidate’s existing disability or medical condition (i.e. difficulties over and above those supported by approved access arrangements).
The Test Rules advise:
- If you become unwell during your test, please raise your hand immediately to notify the invigilator.
- If continuing would affect your test performance, you should ask to end your test. Staff cannot make this decision for you.
- Ensure you obtain an incident case number before you leave the test centre.
- You must then contact the UCAT Office as soon as possible (by submitting a Help Request via your UCAT account) to arrange a new test booking.
If a candidate chooses to continue testing, UCAT will not normally take action or allow the candidate to withdraw their fitness to test declaration.
UCAT will not normally take any action where candidates have sat their test and subsequently report mitigating circumstances.
On occasion, UCAT may allow a candidate to withdraw a fitness to test declaration after testing. Candidates would need to provide independent evidence that they experienced exceptional mitigating circumstances very close to their test which impaired their judgement to the extent that they were unable to make a rational decision about whether they were fit to test.
UCAT considers the following to be exceptional mitigating circumstances. This list is not exhaustive.
- A candidate receives notification of a significant bereavement immediately before their test which could reasonably be considered to result in a temporary lack of capacity to determine if they should take the test or not.
- A candidate experiences a mental health crisis such as a psychotic episode resulting in a lack of capacity to make decisions in their own best interest.
- A candidate witnesses or is involved in a serious accident immediately before their test seriously impacting on their capacity to make decisions.
- A candidate takes a new type of prescription medication on the morning of the test and does not immediately recognise that evidenced side effects have impacted on their cognitive function.
- A candidate is a victim of a crime, such as theft and assault, immediately before their test severely impacting on their mental state.
Candidates wishing to withdraw a fitness to test declaration should contact the UCAT Consortium Office by submitting a Help Request via their UCAT account, and provide the following information in order that their case can be considered:
- Test date
- The precise nature of the circumstances affecting them, including when the circumstances first began to affect them and when they are likely to end or if they are ongoing.
- An explanation of how the circumstances impaired their judgement regarding their fitness to test and why they appeared for testing and made the fit to test declaration.
Candidates should contact the UCAT Consortium Office in a timely manner after testing unless exceptional mitigating circumstances prevent this.
Cases will not normally be considered more than 5 working days after a test date. No cases will be considered after 31 October.
UCAT may require independent supporting evidence to consider a case which will be discussed with the individual candidate. Lack of evidence should not delay candidates making contact.
Candidate confirmed as not fit to test before sitting their test
If the UCAT Consortium Office agrees that a candidate is not fit to test, they will be permitted to defer their test until the contingency test window.
A candidate may also be advised to make a separate application for Access Arrangements.
If appropriate, candidates who defer their test may be permitted to have an annotation to their test result, to inform their university choices of their circumstances if not resolved.
If the candidate’s circumstances are so significant that they are unable to test during the contingency test window, they will be advised to speak to their university choices about their application. If appropriate, the UCAT Consortium Office will offer to communicate with an applicant’s chosen universities to provide an explanation of their specific circumstances.
Candidate permitted to withdraw their fit to test declaration after sitting their test
If the UCAT Consortium Office agrees that a candidate has experienced exceptional mitigating circumstances which prevented them from making a rational decision about their fitness to test they will be permitted to withdraw their fitness to test declaration and will be offered the opportunity to retest.
If the candidate is unable to retest, an annotation can be added to their result, to inform their university choices of their circumstances.
Candidate’s claim that they are not or were not fit to test is rejected
If (in the opinion of the UCAT Consortium Office), a candidate is fit to test or does not meet the requirements to withdraw their fit to test declaration, their claim will be rejected. The candidate will receive a written explanation of the decision made by the UCAT Consortium Office. If more information is needed, and/or evidence is missing, unclear, or does not meet the stated requirements, the candidate will be given further opportunities to meet the requirements.
UCAT reserves the right not to approve any recommendations made in the evidence supplied by the candidate.
The UCAT Consortium Office will consider any such requests, make a final decision, and respond in full to the candidate.
