How large does an examination room need to be?
It is important that examination rooms are large enough to accommodate the numbers of students entered for each examination. When assessing the size of the examination room, you should ensure that the seating arrangements for each examination satisfy the regulations stated in the current version of the Cambridge Handbook. The minimum distance in all directions from the centre of one student's chair to the centre of another's must be 1.25 metres.
For multiple choice papers, this spacing may not be enough to prevent students seeing, intentionally or otherwise, the work of others. It may therefore be necessary to space the desks further apart. For further information on desk spacing please see section 4.3.6 of the Cambridge Handbook, which can be downloaded from the Examinations Officer section of the public website.
What environmental factors should be considered when choosing an examination room?
Examination rooms must provide candidates with appropriate conditions in which to take the examination. It must be an environment in which the candidates feel comfortable and the school must pay due attention to such matters as access, heating, ventilation, lighting and the level of outside noise. Further information can be found in section 4.3.2 of the Cambridge Handbook, which can be downloaded from the Examinations Officer section of the public website.
What information should be displayed in the examination room?
- The Notice to Candidates poster must be displayed both inside and outside the examination room (a copy of the Notice to Candidates poster can be found in the Examination Officers section of the public website).
- A reliable clock must be visible to all students in the examination room.
- The centre number, and the start and finish times of each examination, must be displayed and visible to all students.
Under no circumstances should any display material which might be helpful to students be visible in the examination room (e.g. maps, diagrams, wall charts). Particular care must be taken with those examinations that are held in laboratories or libraries.
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