Exams

It is possible to postpone an exam from a paper version to an online version or vice versa. 

        PAPER EXAMS: These are hard copy exam papers that are completed by students at their Training Centre or an ICB Exam venue. 

        ONLINE EXAMS: These are online exams that are completed on the Macci platform and proctored by the ICB.

Specific rules apply to both types of exams. Please make sure that you have read the ICB Examinations Policy and the Technical specifications for Online Exams before you decide on your exam type.

IF I AM BOOKED FOR A SPECIFIC EXAM TYPE CAN I CHANGE THE TYPE?

Once the exam has been booked and paid for, the exam type CAN be changed, this means that you can switch from one to the other.

IF I AM BOOKED FOR A SPECIFIC EXAM TYPE, CAN I POSTPONE TO A DIFFERENT TYPE?

The student portal is programmed to automatically postpone your subject to the next available date. The next available date can be either an online exam or paper exam. 

CAN I BOOK FOR DIFFERENT EXAM TYPES AT THE SAME TIME?

Students can be booked for multiple types of exams. 

E.g. You could be writing on an online exam for BKTB in April but also be booked to write BUSL at an ICB venue in July. 

Remember that when booking your exams on the student portal, ALL online exams are booked to the ONLINE EXAM VENUE and paper exams are booked to ICB EXAM VENUES. This is to ensure that you are clear on what type of exam you are writing and where.

All exam sessions (online and paper) are 3 hours long, plus an additional 30 minutes for setup and reading time.

2025/2026 Exams

The following ICB venues offer paper-based exams only, and each has limited seating. Be sure to book early to secure your place:

Please note: Online exams are not available at these venues.

2026/2027 Exams

Please note:  These venues are relevant for the Paper Exams (Distance and Self Study Students only)

The below article details how Distance and Self-study students book exams on the Student Portal. A link to the student portal can be found on the ICB website www.icb.org.za at the top right of the page.

Book an Exam

Before you can book for an exam, you must register on the student portal and select a qualification.

The successfully registered student can now book an exam. This is done by clicking on Enter Assessment on the left-hand side of the screen.

The next step is to choose / select the subject for which the student wishes to book an exam. This is done from the drop-down menu. After selecting the subject, the student then needs to choose an exam venue from the drop-down menu. Once the venue has been selected, the student must click on the Search for Available Assessment Dates button. This will display a range of dates for which the exam is available. The student then needs to select the preferred exam date.

To complete the process, click on Add to Basket next to the preferred exam date and venue.

Review Basket and Checkout

Students will be asked to review the contents of their basket. If an exam has been selected in error, it is possible to remove it by clicking on the X next to the item. If the exam selected is correct, click on Checkout.

NB: Once an exam is booked, no changes or cancellations will be accepted!

Submit Assessment Booking

Students will be asked to give a final review of their basket. It is necessary to click on the Next Step button in order to progress through the final checks. In addition to a final review of what is in the basket, students will need to check that the billing address is correct, select the method of payment (credit card, debit card or EFT) and confirm the order. Once everything has been confirmed, students need to click on Submit in order to proceed to the payment.

Making a Payment

Payments are made through the PayFast system. The payment is affected using the means that the student has chosen:

Once the payment has been processed, the student will have access to the PoE.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I GET A POP-UP MESSAGE WHEN I TRY TO BOOK?

1. This could mean that the venue has been closed for the next exam session and that no exams will be available for booking at that venue. Remember to check the ICB Website for available ICB Exam Venues.
   
   OR
2. This could mean that no exam dates have been opened for this particular subject. Remember to check the subject roll out schedule for your subject and also to check the ICB Exam Timetable to ensure that there are dates coming up for your subject.

VENUE CAPACITY LIMITS

ICB Exam Venue have capacity limits. This means that once the venue has reached the capacity limit that no further exams can be booked or postponed to that venue.

Please ensure that you get your bookings in as early as possible to ensure that you reserve a seat for yourself. 

2 WAYS to CHECK EXAM ENTRIES

1. As soon as you enter for an exam, you will receive an email with confirmation that we have received your entry.  If you don’t receive this, please follow up immediately, so that we can find any gremlins!

2. Distance and self study students can pop onto the student portal and go to the View My Exam tab.  Your upcoming exams will be listed here.  You can also use the blue button to download an exam confirmation in pdf format. While classroom students can check with their training centre.

When you did you original booking, you would have received a booking  confirmation via email.  If you did not receive,  please check the following;

1. Your spam folder. Sometimes, emails are automatically marked as spam

2. Check your connection to see whether other emails are indeed reaching you

3. Check your mailbox and make sure it is not “full”

4. Ensure that your email address is correct or has been updated on our system. Sometimes people change from employer which impacts their email address which they used to register with initially.

Should you have checked all the above and it still does not reach you, please contact us via this link; https://www.icb.org.za/contact/

Students are able to apply for a voluntary postponement – rules and fees apply.

CLASSROOM STUDENTS

Students who study through a Training Centre must contact their Training Centre to request a postponement from the ICB.

The ICB will manually process the postponement and confirmation of the new exam date will be provided to the Training Centre.

DISTANCE / SELF STUDY STUDENTS

Distance and self study students are able to process paid postponements on the student portal. Remember to check the timetable to ensure that there are future dates available for the subject.

This functionality on the student portal has been updated to show the following:

1. Students can now postpone between exam types E.g. Paper to online, online to paper

2. Students can select from multiple postponement date options

3. Students can select an available venue for paper exams

Students will not see postponements available for a booked exam if this subject was already previously postponed for any reason. You can contact support@icb.org.za with any related queries.

Should you have missed the deadline to enter for an exam you can still enter a week after closing date by submitting a request for late exam entry, which will be charged a late entry fee. Please click here to see all fees.

What you need to do is complete the Contact us page on our website and clearly indicate the following;

1. Attach the proof of payment of the exam fee and late entry fee.
2. Please include the below in the text block asking to tell us more about how we can help you:
   • What exam type: Paper or Online
   • If paper: State venue where you would like to write
   • Date of exam
   • Subject
   • Your name / surname and student reference number

ICB students have a choice between sitting either paper-based or online exams. The exam timetable is divided between these two types of exams and affords students more opportunities to write exams.

Paper-Based Exams

Paper-based exams are sat at an exam centre. The centres are approved ICB exam centres. These centres are either ICB accredited training centres or at venues booked by the ICB specifically for exams.

Exams at centres are proctored / invigilated. The invigilators are trained in the ICB’s exam policies and procedures. On entering an exam venue, students are required to provide proof of identity. This proof may be in the form of:

Students will not be permitted to sit an exam if valid proof of identity is not supplied.

Paper-based exams are three-and-a-half hours in duration. The first half-hour is reading time where the invigilator will go through the exam rules. The exams commence at 9:00 in the morning and finish at 12:30. A student who arrives more than thirty (30) minutes after the start time of the exam will not be permitted to enter the exam venue and will not be permitted to write the exam.

At the end of the exam – or when the student is done writing – the exam paper and answer book is submitted to the invigilator.

Online Exams

As with the paper-based exams, the online exams take place on specific dates and at specific times. In contrast to the paper-based exams, online exams can be started any time from 9:00 to 13:00 on exam day and automatically closes at 16:30. Thus, the online exam is the same time duration as the paper-based exams.

Take note that ALL online exam sessions for the day will automatically close at 16:30.

Students are required to log into the exam between the stipulated times. A student who attempts to log into the exam more than thirty minutes after 13:00 will be considered as late and will not be granted access to the exam.

The type of questions in the online exams will be similar in nature to those questions in the paper-based exam. Thus, students can expect:

Online exams are proctored. This is done through an online system that makes use of the webcam on the student’s computer as well as tracking software. The webcam is used for facial recognition and it tracks eye-movement. The tracking software notes any activity on the student’s computer specifically related to activity outside of the exam page.

At the end of the exam, the student submits the exam paper by clicking on the “Submit” button. Where the finish time of an exam is reached and a student has not clicked on the “Submit” button, the online system automatically submits the exam.

Students doing the online exam are required to complete the post-exam survey.

Online exams have specific technical requirements. Students need to familiarise themselves with these requirements before booking an online exam. The Technical Systems Check in your PoE also need to have been passed to be able to write the online exam.

The format of the online exam will be very similar the paper based exam. The main difference will be the platform which will be used to capture your answers. One is paper and the other will be a computer.

The length and the marks of the paper may be adjusted to allow for adequate time needed to capture answers online.

PoE Deadlines

Students need to have completed their PoE by the PoE due date as per the exam time table to be allowed to write the exam (paper and onlne). This is about 1 week prior to final exams, to allow the ICB to perform certain administration functions prior to the exam and for students to focus on revision and exam preparations.  Any student who has not completed their PoE by the PoE due date AND in full, will not be permitted to write the final exam.

In Summary