More News from NBEO
COVID-19 HEALTH & SAFETY UPDATE: March 2021
Part I ABS Administration and Pearson VUE Seating
NBEO has been in continued contact with Pearson VUE regarding the impact of COVID restrictions and social distancing protocols in certain locations for our candidates scheduled for the Part I ABS examination March 16-19, 2021.
We are aware that some NBEO candidates scheduled for March 16 received cancellation notices from Pearson VUE last week. Upon receiving information of this issue, NBEO opened an alternate date of March 23 to any candidate receiving this cancellation notice. Upon further discussions with Pearson VUE, if COVID restrictions in some areas are not lifted prior to March 15, then we have additional candidates scheduled between March 17-19 that may lose their seat.
NBEO has now been able to obtain a list of candidates that are in danger of losing their seat if restrictions are not lifted before March 15. We are communicating with those candidates directly. If candidates do not receive a direct notification from NBEO, then NBEO is not aware of any potential issues with their scheduled seat.
You might ask why this is an issue when restrictions in most places have been loosened or removed. It is because appointments made prior to any COVID restrictions are only cancelled close to the exam date by Pearson VUE if the restriction is still in place at that time. Because Pearson VUE has been managing capacity in their testing centers based on local restrictions, the situation has been constantly changing and they have tried to keep their centers as full as possible.
NBEO will continue to communicate information that we have from Pearson VUE. At the moment, we are directly contacting candidates that we have learned are in danger of losing their seat. We will continue to monitor this situation and will work to ensure that all candidates have access to the examination.
If you have any questions, contact NBEO at nbeo@optometry.org.