We
have a new system in place from this week for you to
enrol for RHS examinations at BEST centres. We will register you with
the RHS once you complete your entry, but the entry itself and payment
will now be automated.
Keeping
track of entries, cheques, BACS payments and requests for
acknowledgements, receipts and invoices takes more administrative time
twice a year than we can manage, on top of organising the exam venues
and invigilation. So, we are having to rationalise the exam entry
process.
There
will be a link on the front page of the main BEST in Horticulture
website where you can book and pay for the exams you want to enter
at either of our two exam centres, Ryton and North Moreton, in the same
way you book and pay for courses.
The closing date for
June exams will be 6 May to allow us to complete exam registrations
with the RHS by 13 May. This is the cut-off - up to that point you
can enter and then change your mind and withdraw
with no financial penalty.
The system will be set up to give a maximum number of spaces for each exam and then tell you if the exam room is full.
Payments
will be via Paypal (you can use this system with a credit card and
without setting up a Paypal account); this means you will get
an automatic acknowledgement of your payment for the exam. You will be
asked to fill in a couple of extra fields beyond the normal Paypal
information to help us to complete your RHS registration form.
IMPORTANT
POINT: we pass on the exam fees to the RHS (they invoice us as soon as
exam entries close) so because PayPal makes a small charge
for transactions, and we cannot afford to subsidise everyone's
examinations, we will have to add the Paypal charge to the exam fee.
It's not substantial - 50p for a level 2 exam, 75p for Level 3, but
until now there have been no charges at all to our students
for taking exams with us. We are sorry to have to make this change but
it isn't to make a profit out of you, it's just to allow us to continue
to offer the exams.
We
will not be able to take cheques or BACS payments directly as an
alternative because this would sidestep the booking system and possibly
lead to someone paying for an exam space that's already taken.
Directions to centres, exam timetables, FAQ and other information will be available to download from the booking site.