ATT Exam Noticeboard

Exams update - 8 May 2026

We apologise to all the students affected by the problems that occurred during our exams this week, and for the stress and anxiety they caused.

This is obviously not the experience we wanted our candidates to have. We moved to TestReach to offer a better experience for our students. They are a leading provider in this area with a strong track record, and we undertook a rigorous selection process before proceeding with them and meticulous testing of the platform prior to the exams. We are determined to get to the bottom of what has happened and ensure it cannot happen again.

Proposed remedial action 

We know that many concerns surround whether students will have to wait until November if they need to re-sit the papers that went ahead this week (Papers 1, 2, 4 and 5). Candidates for Papers 3 and 6 have are also waiting to hear when these postponed sittings will be held. 

Having received extensive feedback from many candidates and firms, we are proposing the following:

Papers 3 and 6

We are scheduling a sitting to take place on Friday 15th May. This will not be conducted via the TestReach system and we will send out further details on Monday.11 May. 

Papers 1, 2, 4 and 5

We are in the process of scheduling free re-sits within the next few weeks for any candidate who sat one or more of these papers this week and more information will follow shortly. 

For those candidates who would prefer to wait until the results have been issued for this sitting and who are unsuccessful, we will schedule free re-sits shortly after results are issued.  

We also recognise that for some candidates these re-sits will not be convenient and we will offer free re-sits for the November sitting.

For the exams that were submitted, problems candidates faced will be taken into account during the post examination process.

Resit papers for the May 2026 examinations (Papers 1,2 4 and 5)

The re-sit papers will be different from those presented in the examinations sat on 5 and 6 May 2026. This is possible as the ATT runs its examinations with a prepared contingency paper for each examination in case of session failure. These are the papers that will be used for the planned re-sits.

Thank you for your ongoing patience as we work through these issues. 

 

Exams on 7 May 2026 - postponed

As you may be aware, there have been major technical issues with TestReach’s new exam platform for the ATT’s examinations over the first two exam days this week. These issues are currently being investigated and we are working with TestReach to mitigate these issues and to decide on any next steps.  

Having discussed the situation with TestReach, and after careful consideration, the decision has been made to postpone the exams to be held tomorrow, Paper 3 Business Compliance and Paper 6 VAT.   

We understand this is not the news you were expecting and the decision has not been taken lightly, however, the ATT feels that it is in the best interest of the candidates to postpone these exams whilst these issues are ongoing.  

We will be working towards offering another sitting for these papers very soon and further information will be provided tomorrow once this is available.  

Thank you for your understanding as we work with TestReach to resolve these issues.  

Urgent action required: ATT examinations 6 and 7 May 2026 

 

Students who have been enrolled into TestReach and who have booked their time slot to sit one or more ATT examinations on 6 or 7 May 2026 should please note the following urgent updates: 

Bring a physical calculator to the exam  

 

Candidates sitting exams on 5 May had some problems accessing the Excel spreadsheet. If this occurs during your exam, you will need to prepare computations and workings manually and insert them into a table in the answer space. 

Please read our guide here on how to create/edit tables in TestReach. 

 

Please be patient with TestReach onboarding checks 

 

Candidates sitting the 5 May exams experienced higher-than-anticipated waiting times. TestReach are working to resolve this, but we ask you to remain in the queue for an invigilator. Do not log out as you will lose your place. Please contact TestReach customer support if you experience a delay of 15 minutes or more from your booked start time. Your exam time will not start until you are admitted to your exam.  

 

Please also check https://status.testreach.com/ for updates in the event of long waiting times. 

 

TestReach customer support: 

Phone (UK): +44 (0)20 34758685 
Phone (IRE): +353 (0)1 6991385 
Phone (US): +1 877-764-0548 
Phone (Outside UK, IRE, US): +44 20 34758685 

Email: [email protected] 

 

The exam practice test has been disabled  

 

Due to the Excel difficulties noted above, the practice test has been disabled, so please do not contact either ATT or TestReach about this. 

 

 

 

 

Customer service pre-exam - important note: please read 

 

As per our guidance, technical queries regarding TestReach must be addressed direct to TestReach Customer Services. Their contact details are on our Preparing for the May 2026 examinations page. 

 

Please note that neither TestReach customer services nor ATT customer support is available at the weekend, nor on 4 May, which is a public holiday. 

 

If you are sitting either Paper 1 or Paper 4 on 5 May, you must therefore ensure your computer is set up and ready for the exam by the end of the previous working week. For other papers being sat on 6 and 7 May, we also recommend working to the same timescale to avoid a last-minute rush.

 

Do not leave your preparations to the last minute.

 

You will also need to ensure you have checked in to TestReach and booked your start time at least 72 hours before the exam. If you have not done so, you will not be able to sit your exam unless TestReach can agree to a late accommodation which is not guaranteed. Again, for Papers 1 and 4, there will be no ability to seek an accommodation after the cut-off, because all helplines will be closed. 

 

TestReach customer support on exam day
 

If you have issues accessing your exam or losing connection to your exam on the day, you should contact TestReach Customer Services. Their contact details are on our Preparing for the May 2026 examinations page. 
 
If there is a general problem with the TestReach application, you may be directed to check status.testreach.com for updates. If it is a local problem to your device or internet connection, TestReach customer support should be able to help you over the telephone. 

 

 

Update - TestReach Time Zone settings - error fixed. Please check your settings
 

In an update to our previous post on Time Zones, we can now confirm that TestReach have rectified the problem with local time zone settings. 
 
Students in India should now see their correct local start time in TestReach when using the time zone setting Asia/Kolkata (GMT+5:30).
 
All students are advised to check their time zone setting.
 
Please note if you have not changed your setting from TestReach's default UTC, you will see times in Greenwich Mean Time. If you are in the UK, this will be incorrect as we are now in British Summer Time (GMT+1). You should therefore set your time zone as Europe/London (GMT+1:00) to ensure you arrive for your exam on time.  
 
 

TestReach time slot unavailable message - error fixed
 

A small number of candidates were reporting that they could not book their time slot within TestReach due to a message saying that the time slot was no longer available to book. 
 
This problem has now been rectified and we understand that TestReach customer support are contacting students who have reported this issue to them. 

 

TestReach Guidance Videos
 

We have now added two TestReach tutorial videos to our Preparing for the May 2026 examinations page, on the following topics:

  • Basic TestReach functionality
     
  • System checks (including what you need to do when you receive your TestReach candidate email approximately two weeks before your exam)

 

Important Update - New ATT Special Consideration Deadline & Timeframe Change and May 2026 ATT Exam Regulations 

 

We’d like to highlight an important update regarding the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) Special Consideration process which takes effect from the May 2026 exam sitting.

The submission deadline for Special Consideration requests is being reduced from 14 days to 72 hours after the exam has been sat.

What this means for you:

  • Candidates must act promptly if they believe their performance was affected by unforeseen circumstances.
  • Supporting evidence and applications will need to be prepared and submitted within a much tighter timeframe.

  • Education providers and employers should ensure students and staff are fully aware of this change ahead of upcoming sittings.

 

Our Recommendations:

  • Plan ahead where possible and make sure you understand the requirements and process in advance, so you’re not under unnecessary pressure during an already demanding exam period.
  • If you or your students may be impacted, now is the time to review your internal processes and communications to ensure nothing is missed.

ATT's webpage for Special Considerations can be found here (at the bottom of the page), and our updated ATT May 2026 Exam Regulations which must be read by all students, can be seen here.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or you can email [email protected]

 

Preparing for the May 2026 examinations – updated guidance  

           
Our guidance on Preparing for the May 2026 examinations and our Online Exam FAQs page have been extensively updated. On these two pages, you will find everything you need to know about our new exam platform, TestReach, and how the exams will be remotely invigilated.
 
Please read the guidance carefully, and start practising with the TestReach software.
 
 

Stop press – calculators – change to previously published guidance:

 
You must have a calculator on your desk for the May 2026 exam session if you wish to use one. This must be a non-programmable calculator. Also, this cannot be a calculator on a mobile phone or tablet. This is because the TestReach on-screen calculator is temporarily unavailable. You can also use the Excel spreadsheet provided for calculations.
 
 

Exam Regulations for May 2026 - published

 
Please read the updated Exam regulations. 

 

Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments

The deadline for Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustment applications is six weeks before the relevant exam. While late applications may be considered, we cannot guarantee to grant accommodations where applications are received after the deadline.
 

ATT Exams 2026 – access to resources during the examinations

Further to our update below on the ATT’s planned move to a new exam software supplier from the May 2026 examination session onwards, we have set out below the materials and resources that will be available to you during each examination session:

May 2026 Exam
Online access to HMRC manuals, online legislation and the Tolley study material which includes the relevant manual and the corresponding memory jogger. In addition, you will be able to take an A5 notebook into the exam.

November 2026 Exam
Online access to HMRC manuals, online legislation and the relevant Tolley study material which includes the corresponding memory jogger. You will not be able to take any notebook into this exam.

For the 2027 examinations onwards, the resources available will be online access to HMRC manuals and legislation only.

Please keep checking back to the ATT website for updates on the new exam software.
 

ATT Exams - new platform

Please note that the May 2026 examinations for the ATT will be held via a new examinations platform (Test Reach).

We will be providing more information and practice pages for you become accustomed to the new platform in the new year.

In the meantime, we wanted to let you know of two key changes for the May 2026 ATT examinations:
 

  1. The new examination platform will be live proctored (i.e. you will be monitored throughout the examination by a person via your web camera) and the exams will be conducted through a secure browser. To ensure all candidates are moved promptly into their examination, the ATT examinations will have staggered starts from 10:00 or 14:30 (unless you have reasonable adjustments, in which case your examination start time may be earlier). You will be notified in advance of your scheduled start time of the examination.
  2. Owing to the changes to the proctoring of the examinations, the ATT will be restricting access to some materials and websites for the May 2026 examinations onwards. At present, we can confirm that you will be able to access online legislation and the HMRC guidance online. In addition, you will be able to bring into the room where you are sitting your examination 1 A5 notebook in hard copy (this could be a notebook in which you have created notes or the Tolley Memory Jogger for example).

We will continue to provide information on these changes in the new year, and you are strongly advised to keep returning to this page for more information.
 

ATT Certificate Exams - format change from 2025

From May 2025 exams there is a change to the format of the ATT Certificate exams. The two main changes are:

  • There will be no short form questions
  • Accounting and Law will no longer be included in the Certificate exams. These subjects will continue to be examined via the Computer Based Exams (CBEs).

Further details can be found here.

The sample paper can be found here.
 

Main errors made by Candidates during the previous exam sessions

See the Online Exam FAQs for information on the most common errors candidates have made with their Online exams.  

Looking at what errors were made previously is the best way to prevent you making the same mistakes for your exams in 2025.