Alerts and notifications not arriving

Work down this list. It is roughly in order of how often each one turns out to be the cause.

1. Notification permission

In the app, open Settings. Under Notifications, Enable Alerts should be on. If it is off, tap it, and tap Allow when iOS asks. (The switch arrived in version 5.8. On earlier versions, use iOS Settings as below.)

If you tapped Don't Allow at some point, the switch cannot undo that, because only iOS can. Go to iOS Settings → Apps → Exams → Notifications (on iOS 17 and earlier, Settings → Exams → Notifications) and turn on Allow Notifications, with at least one of Lock Screen, Notification Centre or Banners ticked.

2. Does the exam actually have an alert on it?

Open the exam and check Alerts. An exam with no alert set will count down perfectly and never notify you. If you add alerts one at a time, it is easy to have a whole season with none.

3. Is the alert time already in the past?

A 1 month before alert on an exam that is three weeks away has nothing to fire. Add a closer one.

4. Focus modes

Settings → Focus. A Sleep, Study or Do Not Disturb schedule will hold notifications back. If you use a study Focus, add Exam Countdown to its allowed apps.

5. Scheduled Summary

Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary. If Exam Countdown is in your summary, its alerts are being held and delivered in a batch at a set time rather than when they fire. Take it out of the summary.

6. Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode can delay background activity. It rarely stops an alert outright, but it is worth ruling out.

Still nothing

In the app's Settings, tap Test Notification. It checks your permissions and sends a real alert a few seconds later. If that arrives but exam alerts do not, set an alert on an exam a few minutes away and see whether it arrives. If it does not, contact support and say which of the above you have checked.