Band Booster IELTS does not take IELTS bookings, move test dates or pay refunds. The rules below belong to the two providers, as their Hong Kong pages stated them on 24 October 2026. Providers change their rules, so read the current policy of the provider you booked with before you act. Both state the administration fee as a share of the exam fee; this page quotes no exam fee, percentage or test date and says only that a fee applies.
British Council Hong Kong: cancelling a booking
The British Council's English-language cancellation and refund policy for Hong Kong says you can cancel your registration at any time before the test through the Test Taker portal. It is written for standard IELTS; IELTS for UKVI has its own policy page. What comes back depends on how close the test date is:
- 15 or more days before the test date: a refund is due, less an administration fee.
- Within 14 days of the test date: no refund is given, apart from the special-consideration route described below.
What does not change the no-refund rule
Inside 14 days the page is flat: no refund is given, regardless of five situations that it names. They are a booking just made and paid for inside the 14 days, a wrong test date, a wrong test type, a wrong ID type, and multiple bookings. The one separate route is the special-consideration application described below, which lets a candidate carry the test fee over to a later date or, in some cases, apply for a refund. Applying is not the same as being granted.
British Council Hong Kong: transferring to a new test date
The same English page sets out transfers for computer tests, again by the number of days before the test date:
- 15 or more days before: the transfer carries no administration fee.
- 5 to 14 days before: a transfer is allowed, with an administrative fee.
- Under 5 days before: no transfers are allowed. A transfer request is treated as a cancellation and the normal refund rules apply, so the cancellation rules above are the ones that count.
British Council Hong Kong: special consideration for illness or other exceptional circumstances
If you are ill or have a personal emergency on your test date, the English page says you can submit a case for special consideration to your test centre. It defines exceptional circumstances as a traumatic experience, a domestic crisis, an unavoidable legal or military obligation, a serious medical condition that prevents you attending or performing normally on test day, bereavement or other significant hardship, and civil unrest or extreme weather.
You can make a case before the test, and up to two calendar days after the test date if you did not attend. Applications are not accepted after your results have been released. You contact your test centre directly and give full information with supporting evidence. The centre assesses the application and replies within seven working days of receiving your full application in writing. Read the page itself for what to include.
If the test centre has to cancel
The same policy covers the opposite case. Where the test centre has to cancel for reasons outside its control, such as extreme weather, natural disaster, civil unrest, industrial action or force majeure, British Council Hong Kong says it will give you as much notice as possible and a choice between a full refund and a transfer to a future test date. For other causes, such as technical failure or venue factors, it offers a choice of a refund or a transfer. For weather warnings and test days, see IELTS and typhoon or black rainstorm warnings in Hong Kong.
IDP Hong Kong: cancelling or rescheduling
IDP Hong Kong publishes its reschedule and cancel page in English and in Chinese: here is the English version and the Chinese version. IDP says:
- More than five weeks before the test date: if you reschedule or cancel, you receive a refund of the exam fee less an administration fee.
- Inside five weeks: if you rebook or cancel, no refund is arranged unless there is a serious medical condition.
- Serious medical condition: if you cannot attend because of one, a medical certificate provided within 5 days of the test date qualifies for the same refund, less the administration fee.
- Where to ask: contact the test centre where you booked.
- Missing the test: if you do not attend and did not tell the centre beforehand, the fee cannot be refunded.
Ask the centre where you booked how to send a medical certificate.
British Council and IDP side by side
The cut-offs are easy to confuse because the units differ.
| Question | British Council Hong Kong (English page) | IDP Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|
| How it counts | Days before the test date. | Weeks before the test date. |
| Cancelling for a refund | 15 or more days before: a refund, less an administration fee. | More than five weeks before: a refund, less an administration fee. |
| Cancelling late | Within 14 days: no refund. The situations the page names (wrong date, wrong test type and so on) do not change this. Special consideration is a separate application. | Inside five weeks: no refund unless there is a serious medical condition. |
| Changing the date | Transfer for computer tests: no administration fee at 15 or more days, a fee at 5 to 14 days, no transfer under 5 days (treated as a cancellation). | Rescheduling falls under the same five-week rule as cancelling. |
| Illness and other exceptional circumstances | Special consideration (a serious medical condition, bereavement, a personal emergency and other listed circumstances): apply before the test, or up to two calendar days after a missed test. | A serious medical condition: a medical certificate provided within 5 days of the test date qualifies for the same refund, less the administration fee. |
| Where to act | Cancel or transfer: the Test Taker portal. Special consideration: contact your test centre directly. | Contact the test centre where you booked. |
Do not convert weeks into days or days into weeks. Close to a cut-off, ask the provider which day counts rather than relying on your own count.
The British Council's English and Chinese pages: what matches and what differs
British Council Hong Kong publishes its policy in English and in Chinese. As read on 24 October 2026, the two versions agree on the main refund table and differ in some details. This guide follows the English page above; both versions cover standard IELTS, and IELTS for UKVI has its own policy page. On the Chinese page you will find:
- The refund cut-off matches, with one loose sentence. The Chinese table agrees with the English page: a refund, less an administration fee, at 15 or more days, and none within 14 days. One sentence on the Chinese page, however, speaks of no refund in the 15 days before the test date and another of a refund at 15 days or earlier, so that page is not consistent about day 15 itself. Near that day, ask British Council Hong Kong.
- Special-consideration deadlines differ. The English page allows a case before the test and up to two calendar days after a missed test. The Chinese page asks for a written application by the first working day after the scheduled test date, with supporting documents within five working days after it.
- The new date for a transfer. The Chinese page adds that the new date must be at least 15 days after you apply and within three months of the original date. The English page does not state this limit.
This guide cannot tell you which version applies where they differ: ask British Council Hong Kong, and read the policy on the day you act. For IELTS for UKVI or another variant, read the provider's own page for that test.
If something goes wrong on test day
IDP Hong Kong says to tell the test centre immediately if you run into difficulty on the day, for example if you are late for reasons beyond your control, and that the centre may offer you a test on the next available test date. It also says the fee cannot be refunded if you miss the test without telling the centre beforehand, so do not stay silent.
With British Council Hong Kong, the route after a missed test is special consideration, and its deadline is worded differently on the English and Chinese pages (see above). For the ID you need and other test-day rules, see booking IELTS in Hong Kong with an HKID or passport; for adjustments to the test itself, see special arrangements for IELTS in Hong Kong.
Habits that help before you change a booking
This is a tutor's general advice, not guidance from either provider.
- Check which provider holds your booking, then use only that provider's rule.
- Act early. For both providers the better terms go to earlier requests: a refund at 15 or more days (British Council) or more than five weeks (IDP), and a transfer without an administration fee at 15 or more days (British Council).
- Read the policy on the day you act, and take the test date from your booking confirmation, not from memory.
- If your reason is medical or another exceptional circumstance, find out what proof the provider wants and how soon it must reach them, because the deadlines differ.
Lessons with Mike are a separate booking
Band Booster's rules cover Mike's lessons only: you can reschedule a lesson at no charge up to 12 hours before the slot, and a cancellation inside 12 hours is not refunded. Nothing here moves or refunds an IELTS booking made with the British Council or IDP. If your test date moves, choose lesson times around the new date on the booking page, which shows each slot in your own time zone and your price in your own currency before you pay.
Mike is a Cambridge CELTA-certified teacher based in Hanoi who teaches every lesson himself, one-to-one, live on Google Meet and in English only; he scored 8.5 in IELTS Speaking (about Mike). No band is promised: progress depends on your starting point and the work you do between sessions. For how lessons run from Hong Kong, see online IELTS tutor for Hong Kong.
Related reading: for a single-skill retake instead of a date change, see One Skill Retake or a full retake; for the computer format, see computer-delivered IELTS in Hong Kong; for a re-mark after you have sat the test, a different process, see IELTS results in Hong Kong.