United States
Hong KongSpecial arrangements for HKSI Paper 1: how to ask, and when
Requests for special examination arrangements go to the HKSI Institute, which sets what is available and what evidence it needs. Ask at or before enrolment rather than on exam day. Paper 1 is 90 minutes of dense on-screen reading, closed book, so reading, attention and mobility needs all matter here.
Most candidates who could ask for special arrangements never do. Some do not know the option exists. Some assume their situation is not serious enough to count. A few worry it will get back to their employer. All three reasons cost people marks they were entitled to, on an exam that is unusually sensitive to reading speed.
Who decides, and what we can tell you
HKSI runs the examination, so HKSI decides. What arrangements exist, what documentation supports a request, and by when it has to be made are all the Institute's to publish. We are not going to list accommodations here as though we could promise them. That would be worse than useless.
Contact HKSI at or before enrolment and describe your situation plainly. Ask what arrangements exist, what evidence they need, and what the deadline is. That single email is worth more than anything a study provider can tell you, and it commits you to nothing.
- Who to ask
- HKSI Institute
- When to ask
- At or before enrolment, not on exam day
- What they will want
- A clear description of the need, usually with supporting documentation
- Exam features that matter
- 90 minutes, 60 questions on screen, closed book, in person at a centre
- Cost
- The examination fee is HKD 1,800 either way
- Does it affect your result?
- No. The pass standard is 42 of 60 for every candidate
Why the format makes this worth asking about
Paper 1 is not physically demanding. It is a reading examination with a hard clock: sixty questions in 90 minutes, on a screen, in legal and regulatory language, with distinctions that hang on single qualifiers. Anything that slows your reading or breaks your attention costs you marks directly, and the effect compounds over the last third of the paper.
So the range of situations worth raising is wider than people assume.
| Situation | Why it interacts with this exam | Raise it? |
|---|---|---|
| Visual impairment or low vision | Ninety minutes of dense on-screen text | Yes |
| Hearing impairment | Verbal instructions at check-in and during the sitting | Yes |
| Mobility needs or a wheelchair | Centre access, seating, workstation height | Yes |
| Dyslexia or another specific learning difference | Reading speed under a fixed clock | Yes |
| ADHD or an attention-related condition | Ninety minutes of sustained focus in a shared room | Yes |
| Chronic illness, pain or fatigue | Sitting for the full duration without a break | Yes |
| Medication or a medical device needed at the desk | Personal items are otherwise stored | Yes, in advance |
| Pregnancy | Comfort, seating and access to facilities | Yes |
| A recent injury, in a cast or a sling | Temporary and still relevant | Yes |
| Nursing | Timing and facilities | Yes |
Note how many of those are temporary. A broken wrist three weeks before your sitting is exactly as worth raising as a permanent condition, and candidates routinely fail to mention it because they think arrangements are only for something lifelong.
How to make the request well
- Contact HKSI as early as you can, ideally before you enrol. Availability and deadlines are theirs to set, and early requests are easier to accommodate than late ones.
- Describe the functional impact, not just the diagnosis. "I read at roughly half the speed of an unaffected reader under timed conditions" tells an administrator far more than a label does.
- Get your documentation before you ask what is needed. A letter from a doctor or an assessment report takes time to obtain, and time is the resource you are short of.
- Ask what happens if your circumstances change between the request and the sitting, particularly for temporary conditions.
- Keep the correspondence. If anything goes wrong at the centre, a written record of what was agreed is the only thing that helps.
Does your employer have to know?
Your enrolment is with HKSI, in your name, and a request for arrangements is a matter between you and the Institute. If your firm is paying the fee, that is a payment relationship, not an entitlement to your medical information.
Here is the opinion, offered carefully because it is a personal decision. Candidates in Hong Kong finance disclose less than they should, and it costs them. The worry is understandable in an industry where fitness and properness is a live concept and people are cautious about anything that looks like a weakness on file. But a reading accommodation on a licensing examination is an administrative arrangement, not a professional judgement about you, and treating it as something shameful mainly serves to make an already hard exam harder.
The concession: only you can weigh your own workplace. If you would rather not involve your firm, do not - the request goes to HKSI and there is no reason the two conversations have to be the same conversation.
What not to do
Do not turn up on the day and explain your situation to an invigilator. Centre staff administer arrangements that have already been approved; they do not create new ones at a check-in desk with a room of candidates waiting. However sympathetic they are, the answer will be no.
And do not decide on your own behalf that your situation is not serious enough. That judgement belongs to the Institute, against its own criteria. The cost of asking is one email.
If the answer is no
You still have the ordinary levers, and on this exam they are worth a lot. Practice on a screen rather than on paper, because the delivery is computer-based and screen reading is where the fatigue lands. Build pacing checkpoints so you are never surprised by the clock. And build margin above the pass standard rather than aiming at exactly 42 of 60, because margin is what absorbs a bad stretch.
Sittings run monthly, so if a request needs more time than your target sitting allows, moving to the next one costs weeks rather than seasons. The deferral and cancellation page covers how to change a booking, and the exam day walkthrough covers what the standard experience looks like.
Common questions
Can I get extra time for HKSI Paper 1?
Requests for special arrangements go to the HKSI Institute, which sets what is available and what evidence it requires. We cannot promise a particular accommodation on the Institute's behalf. Contact HKSI at or before enrolment and ask directly.
When should I request special arrangements?
At or before enrolment. Availability and deadlines are HKSI's to set, and requests made close to a sitting are much harder to accommodate. Since sittings run monthly, allowing an extra cycle costs you weeks rather than a season.
What documentation will I need?
Ask HKSI, and start gathering evidence before they reply. Medical letters and formal assessments take time to obtain, and that time is usually the binding constraint. Describe the functional impact on timed reading, not only the diagnosis.
Will my employer find out?
Your enrolment and any arrangements are between you and HKSI. If your firm pays the fee, that is a payment relationship rather than access to your medical information. Whether to tell them is a separate decision that is yours to make.
Can I arrange something at the exam centre on the day?
No. Centre staff administer arrangements that were approved in advance; they cannot create new ones at check-in. Turning up and explaining your situation on the morning means sitting the paper without support you might have been entitled to.
Does a special arrangement change the pass mark?
No. The standard is 42 of 60, or 70%, for every candidate. Arrangements exist to remove a barrier to demonstrating what you know, not to lower the bar, and nothing about your result is flagged differently as a consequence.