Register for an exam
There are two examination sessions per year. These are typically held in April and October.
Important announcement: Higher Education Qualifications (HEQ)
As the Chartered Institute for IT, it is our responsibility to ensure our qualifications are continually reviewed and updated to ensure they support the needs and demands of the future workforce.
How to register
Step 1 - Become a member
If you’re already a BCS member, skip to Step 2.
Step 2 - Complete your booking
Complete your booking on the online registration portal
Registration and Payment
Please note, for any candidates wishing to apply for membership or register for exams, where there may be financial limits put in place by your bank that will prevent you from completing your registration online. Please first try to pay using our PayPal option. If you are unsuccessful, please contact your bank before attempting to pay online or by phone, to ensure that your overseas card payment will be successful.
If you have any questions, view our FAQs below.
Exam key dates - 2022/2023
| Session | Registration opens | Registration closes | Results released | Certificates released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023 | 9 January 2023 Standard venues | 28 February 2023 | July 2023 | August 2023 |
| April 2023 | 9 January 2023 Non-standard venues | 30 January 2023 | July 2023 | August 2023 |
| October 2023 | 3 July 2023 Standard venues | 14 August 2023 | December 2023 | January 2024 |
| October 2023 | 3 July 2023 Non-standard venues | 24 July 2023 | December 2023 | January 2024 |
Exam FAQs
Aged 16 or over.
You can book using our online registration portal.
All exams are paper based, taking place in regional venues.
You can choose from this list of standard venues through our online registration portal:
- Nigeria: Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Ibadan and Port Harcourt
- Sri Lanka: Jaffna, Colombo and Kandy
- BCS Swindon
- Ghana, Accra
- Mauritius
- Zimbabwe, Mutare and Harare
If a standard venue is not available in your region, you may still be able to apply to sit in a non-standard venue. Please see our non-standard venues policy for further instructions.
No, you must first re-join as a member to book an HEQ exam.
Go to MyBCS and login, then select to re-join or apply for membership.
You will receive your admission email/letter automatically once you have completed your registration.
If you already hold a qualification that covers the HEQ syllabus, you may qualify for exemption from a particular module.
With our new online booking service, you will receive your exam admission letter when you register for the exam. This letter is required to gain access to the exam hall. Please contact us at exams@bcs.uk if you do not receive your letter.
If there is a system error when submitting an exam booking, you may receive the following message:
“Your payment has processed successfully. However something may have gone wrong processing your registration(s). Please contact Customer Service using order reference [********-****-****-****-************]"
The error message will contain your order reference. Please contact the Customer Service team and provide this reference. We will then contact you with further information.
If your payment was successful, you will receive a receipt via email.
We can only transfer your examinations to the next available session, all requests MUST be made within 14 days from the date you registered for your exams.
Please note: If your transfer is due to medical reasons, you are required to send us a medical certificate covering the dates in which you were due to sit your exams. This must be sent to exams@bcs.uk within two weeks of the date of your examinations. 50% of your exam fee will be transferred, and candidates are required to pay the remaining 50% of their exam fee to enable the transfer to be completed.
Log in to our candidate portal and select ‘My Journey’ to view your available results and download your transcript.
Your results will usually appear in the candidate portal on the result release date advertised in the table above. If your results are still not showing after this time, please contact www.bcs.org/livechat
If you have any queries about your exam registration please email us at customerservice@bcs.uk.
