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Message: <blockquote data-quote="average_jo123" data-source="post: 215423" data-attributes="member: 15838"><h3>Test centre logistics</h3>Just taking break on content-focused discussion, thought I'd share a few words on practical test centre logistics from my experience as well.<h4>Booking process</h4>I think in the earlier cohorts people had to queue to get a seat at their test centre etc. This was already improved upon by the time I had to book a place for SQE1 in January 2025 so hopefully it stays that way. I can't say much on what the process would look like for you if you need reasonable adjustments (I think different timelines may apply) but if you don't require any, it is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you don't mix up your dates and be on standby when the booking window opens so you can reserve your seat.<h4>Choosing a test centre</h4>For SQE1 this really just depends what works best for you. Some of my classmates put down their home postcode instead of their London postcode because they wanted to be home when they sat the exam. I personally chose to just stay in London, so I just put in my London address postcode. One thing to note though is that which test centre you get will also depend on whether they are running any tests from that test centre. For example there was actually a Pearson Vue test centre just 10 minutes walk away from my postcode but I ended up getting Tobacco Dock as my test centre (20 min on the tube) as that was where the majority of people who put in an northeast London postcode ended up, though I am not sure if they actually did run any SQE1 tests from that small test centre just 10 min away from me and if I got placed in Tobacco Dock only because they ran out of space in the small test centre. So from my personal experience at least, even if you put in the postcode of the Pearson Vue centre you want, you are not necessarily guaranteed that particular test centre. I don't really know how Kaplan runs it and if in theory, I was the only one who signed up for SQE1 at one particular test centre near me, whether they will just run SQE1 for me there, or if they will place me in another test centre which had at least, say 15 other SQE1 candidates sitting at the same time. If there is one particular test centre near your postcode that you rly rly want for whatever reason and you have no flexibility for potentially being allocated another test centre, then it might be worth emailing Kaplan to check.For SQE2 the process was quite similar. Except for orals because there were fewer test centres you can only indicate your preference for which city you'd like to sit in. For SQE2 writtens though I was allocated the small test centre 10 min away from me which I didn't get allocated for SQE1, whereas I knew people who got allocated Tobacco Dock still, so they were definitely running writtens for SQE2 in Tobacco Dock, but for some reason I didn't get allocated there even though I put in the same exact postcode as I did for SQE1. But at my SQE2 test centre there were plenty of people sitting at the same time as me.<h4>Attire</h4>For SQE1 and SQE2 writtens, make sure you bring layers. If it's cold, layer up. If it's warm, at least you can remove a layer and still have smth lightweight to wear underneath. You can't bring or wear any super bulky coats or jumpers into the test room with you though. I remember there was a girl who wore a thin tank top and a big fluffy jacket (it low key almost looked like coat) and was told she had to remove her jacket and had to just go in with only her tank top. So I'd just be prepared and wear a thin layer underneath and top up with a jumper if needed. You will be allowed to wear a normal hoodie or jumper in, just nothing too thick or bulky.Electronics and breaksOne of the things that really caught me off guard was how different the rules regarding scheduled breaks were between SQE1 and SQE2, and ngl Kaplan and Pearson Vue were not crystal clear about this either, which wasn't helpful. "Scheduled break" means the break time in between your sessions which will not eat into your assessment time. For SQE1 this means the break time you get between session 1 (first 90 questions) and session 2 (second set of 90 questions) -- I can't remember how much time you get, maybe an hour or smth (check the SRA website). For SQE2 writtens this means the 15 minute break you get between the first two stations of the day and the last two stations of the day.I remember when I sat SQE1 at Tobacco Dock during the scheduled break we were escorted out of the test room and we were allowed access to our bags to eat our lunch and go on our phones. We were even allowed to leave the test centre to get food. So I remember it was super chill I ate my packed lunch and went on my phone to do flashcards and do last minute revision before going into session two. And literally everyone else was doing the same. As long as you were back at the assessment room on time you'd be fine.For SQE2 writtens however, they put up signs all over the test centre that you are not allowed to have access to your phone or any revision material once you are inside the test centre. I will be honest even having seen these signs I didn't really clock that this meant I am not allowed to go on my phone during the scheduled break, because in my head I thought it would be the same as SQE1 where we did get access to all our personal belongings during the scheduled break — I was just lucky that I didn't actually end up doing this because there was someone at my test centre who got reported to Kaplan for breaching the rules all because she went on her phone for a split second during the scheduled break and got caught by the test administrator for doing that. The girl explained that she wasn't even communicating with anyone or doing any revision on her phone and literally just picked up her phone to check the time or something but the test administrator was just not having it. She just said that she is under an obligation to raise this to Kaplan and the girl will need to appeal to Kaplan directly.I didn't really clock that there is actually a minor difference for the rules between scheduled breaks for SQE1 vs SQE2 until I read it in detail — you can compare the two here:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://sqe.sra.org.uk/exam-arrangements/the-assessment-day/SQE1" target="_blank">https://sqe.sra.org.uk/exam-arrangements/the-assessment-day/SQE1</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://sqe.sra.org.uk/exam-arrangements/the-assessment-day/SQE2" target="_blank">https://sqe.sra.org.uk/exam-arrangements/the-assessment-day/SQE2</a></li> </ul>^ Note that for the scheduled break in SQE1 it says you can leave the test centre and have access to all your personal belongings. Whereas for SQE2 it says you can have access to your personal belongings but only to drink water or to take medication. I am pretty sure that the MAJORITY of candidates would not have picked up this difference and if not for the girl who made the mistake before I did, I wouldn't have known and it could have easily been me getting in trouble for the exact same reason so I can't even blame this poor girl for what happened. I could tell she was really thrown off by the whole incident and I sincerely hope she managed to get it sorted with Kaplan in the end. But I suppose a lesson to learn from this is check and double check the rules before you actually attend the test centre because you don't want to add to the stress you would already be experiencing on the day because of something like this. Don't even just take what I (or anyone else) tell you wholesale, but just make sure you check the rules and that anything you bring to the exam, anything that you do or say is actually permitted.</blockquote>

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