Overseas Registration Examination

Guidance for candidates who fall ill after booking a seat on an examination

Illness before or during an examination Candidates who feel unwell must use their professional judgement to decide whether they are fit to a) turn up to the examination or b) continue to sit the examination after it has begun. Candidates will be expected to accept the consequences of their decision, as detailed below. Candidates who decide that they are too ill to sit the examination must produce an acceptable medical certificate to confirm the illness. Candidates should contact the GDC Examinations Team to determine what medical evidence they will need to produce. Candidates who fall ill before an examination: If you become unwell, you should telephone the GDC as soon as you know you will not be able to attend an examination. You should then follow this up by sending an original medical certificate to the GDC Examinations Team. You should indicate whether you wish your fee to be returned or carried over to the next available diet. Candidates who fall ill on the day of the examination: a. If you feel unwell, you should speak immediately with the GDC External Examiner. The External Examiner will write a detailed note of all the information given to him/her and then send this to the GDC Examinations Team as soon as possible. b. You must make a professional decision as to your fitness to continue with the examination. If you decide that you are too ill to continue with the examination, you must send a medical certificate to the Examinations Team to confirm the illness. The GDC Examinations Team will determine whether the medical certificate is acceptable and if your fees may be returned or reused. c. If you decide to continue with the examination, you should be aware that your performance will be judged in exactly the same way as all other candidates. Results will not be adjusted retrospectively regardless of the production of a medical certificate. This is because you made the decision that you were well enough to continue with the examination. d. The following will apply if you decide that you are not fit to continue with the examination: i. If you withdraw from an examination due to illness, you will be required to sit all sections of that examination again in one diet. ii. If the section of the examination from which you withdraw is the first section of the examination you have sat, you may not sit subsequent sections of the examination at that diet. iii. If you have sat one or more sections of the examination prior to withdrawing, the results of the sections already completed will be regarded as valid. You will not be permitted to sit any subsequent sections of the examination at the current diet. iv. Where the results of completed sections indicate that you would have failed the examination (regardless of the outcome of the section from which you withdrew), you will be regarded as having failed the entire examination. You will be required to repeat it on payment of a fee and provided that a further attempt is permissible under the regulations. v. Where the results of sections completed indicate that you may have passed the entire examination (had you completed it), you may enrol for the next available examination diet with no additional fee, provided that you have supplied an acceptable medical certificate.

Overseas Registration Examination Page 1 of 2 General Dental Council, Overseas Registration Examination, 37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ Tel: +44 (0)20 7344 3735 Email: examinations@gdc-uk.org www.gdc-uk.org

You should be aware that grades will not be released until the Board of Examiners have met and all results are published. No information on the consequences for an individual of withdrawal will be available at the time of the examination other than that provided in general terms above.

Overseas Registration Examination Page 2 of 2 General Dental Council, Overseas Registration Examination, 37 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8DQ Tel: +44 (0)20 7344 3735 Email: examinations@gdc-uk.org www.gdc-uk.org