Overseas exams

University of Nottingham > Student Services > Service Details > Assessment and Examinations > Overseas exams

Overseas exams

Students are expected to sit their in-person exams at the University of Nottingham for two key reasons:

to ensure that the integrity of the exams is maintained

to provide you with the best conditions in which to prepare for and sit your exams, therefore giving you the best chance of success

Applications will be considered for students to sit their in-person exams overseas based on the guidelines set out below.

International and EU students

You may be permitted to take in-person reassessments at the University of Nottingham, China or Malaysia Campus if you are classified as an international student or EU student for fee purposes.

International exchange students

All exchange students are required to complete any in-person examinations in Nottingham. Only in the following circumstances may exchange students be permitted to apply to sit in-person written examinations at your home university:

You are an exchange student in the autumn semester only and the next semester at your home university starts before the end of the University of Nottingham's autumn semester exam period.
You have failed a module during your exchange and your home university requires you to resit your exam during the August reassessment period.

If either of the above circumstances apply to you, please contact your home university to confirm that they can administer the examination(s). The Global Opportunities team reserve the right to reject requests from exchange students where they are expected to undertake their examinations in Nottingham. Please note that requests for overseas exams in the May/June exam period can't be accepted from exchange students.

Arranging overseas exams

Deadlines

Please submit your completed application form by the following deadlines. All deadlines are 12:00 midnight, UK time:

Unfortunately, late applications will not be accepted after the deadline has passed.

Exam period	Application opens	Deadline
January exams	20 October 2025	17 November 2025
May/June exams	9 February 2026	11 March 2026
August exams	6 July 2026	20 July 2026

Fees

For an overseas exam, an administration fee of £150.00 is payable to the University of Nottingham (it is a set fee of £150.00, and it is not  £150.00 per exam). The fee will be payable after the examination period.

This fee is charged in addition to the resit fees charged by the University of Nottingham. Fees will be raised after each exam period (please expect notification during February, June, October) and will show in NottinghamHub when they are due for payment.

If you cancel an overseas resit application after the 15 December 2025 (January Exams), 15 April 2026 (May/June Exams) or 3 August 2026 (August Reassessment Period) you will still be liable for the £150.00 administrative fee.

Exams that cannot be taken overseas

Not all schools permit overseas examinations, see the list of schools allowing overseas exams below:

Schools allowing overseas exams

If the relevant school has not approved overseas exams and you submit a request, this will automatically be declined. Even if the school approves overseas exams, they reserve the right to withdraw that approval if the gap between the time of the UK exam and the time of the overseas equivalent is too long. As this won’t be known until the release of the exam timetable, you will be contacted within a week of this release with a final decision on your application.
Overseas exams are not available to students going on holiday or working overseas. 
If China or Malaysia cannot administer your exam, you will be required to return to the University of Nottingham, UK campus to sit your exam(s).

All in-class tests and School based exams cannot be taken overseas.

All decisions are final.
ExamSys in-person exams can only be taken at a University of Nottingham institution (ie China or Malaysia campus)

Moodle and Examsys remote exams can be taken anywhere and do not require an overseas application. To check the assessment type, e.g. Moodle remote, written in person, ExamSys, please refer to the curriculum catalogue

Exam Procedure - here is what you do next

1. Check that your school allows overseas examinations, see the list of schools allowing overseas exams below:

Schools allowing overseas exams

- Complete one application form for every in-person exam that you must attend in person and submit by the deadlines listed above.

Overseas application form

- Do not complete the form for Moodle remote or ExamSys remote exams. This is not necessary as the exams can be sat at any location you choose.

- If the chosen venue cannot accommodate your exam you will need to return to the University of Nottingham, UK to complete your exams.

- You will need to pay all venue associated fees.
- Contact Malaysia via email.
- Contact China via email.

2. Provisional approval will be communicated within 7 days of the application deadline ending.
Final approval will be subject to institutional approval and communicated by email at the earliest opportunity but within 7 days of the release of the exam timetable at the latest.

3. Once exam timetables are released, you must check that the exams you are expecting to take are included and scheduled. If any exams are missing from your exam timetable, please contact us

- You will need to view the exam timetable on SharePoint as the MyNottinghamApp and MyCal may display incorrect start times if they are synced with the time zones set up on your devices
- Please ensure you confirm arrangements and any venue associated fees in advance of your exams with the external institution. Please note deadlines and processes may vary between venues. However, it is your responsibility to ensure you have made contact and familiarised yourself with your overseas exam location and any local expectations from the venue.

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