MTS moves to a larger Glasgow exam venue
Matthew Steele
MTS has moved its Glasgow city test venue, increasing its previous 30 permanent computer workstations to 50.
MTS has moved to a new home in Glasgow, with a fully-modernised computer-based exam venue, increasing its candidate capacity by 67%, with total exam seats numbering 50. Demand for our Glasgow centre has grown steadily, and our previous 30-seat venue was increasingly booked up well in advance. Rather than turn candidates away or push them further down the calendar, we went looking for a home with room to grow. We found it in a beautifully modernised business centre with a fascinating past.
Why Glasgow matters
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city and its economic powerhouse. More than 635,000 people live in the city itself, and the wider metropolitan region is home to 1.85 million people, which generated £48 billion in output in 2021.
The Glasgow City Region accounts for around 34% of all Scottish jobs, 32% of Scottish output and 29% of Scottish businesses. Its strengths range from finance and business services to life sciences, fintech, space technology and the creative industries.
It is also a city built on learning. Glasgow has more than 185,000 students from 140 countries and produces nearly 40,000 graduates a year, including almost 9,000 in finance and business. The wider region has the second-largest student population in the UK, and 54% of Glasgow's working-age population is educated to degree level.
Glasgow has three universities:
The city also has two specialist higher education institutions:
That combination of ambitious professionals, international students and a growing business base is exactly why demand for professional and language exams in the city keeps rising, and why we wanted a venue that could keep pace.
A building with a spirited past
Our new home is The Pentagon Business Centre on Washington Street, the former warehouse of whisky blender James Buchanan and Co. Designed by A. Gardner in 1897, with additions by H.E. Clifford in 1907, it was the largest bonded whisky warehouse in the world at the time it was built. It is still known locally as Buchanan's bond. Today it is a Category C listed building, its imposing five-storey frontage a reminder of the days when this part of Anderston, right on the River Clyde, was lined with bonded stores, cooperages and mills.
It is a fitting place to sit an exam. Whisky helped build Glasgow, and it remains one of the most important industries in Scotland. Scottish whisky (also called 'Scotch') is the world's number one internationally traded spirit, with exports worth £5.3 billion in 2025, shipping the equivalent of 1.34 billion 70cl bottles around the world, or 43 bottles every second.
Behind those numbers sit thousands of skilled jobs in distilling, blending, logistics, finance and international trade. Many of those careers are built on the very qualifications our candidates sit with us, from accountancy to English language proficiency.
Inside the new venue
Behind the Victorian façade, the business centre has been fully modernised, and our first-floor exam space is built around candidate comfort. Up-to-date heating and air conditioning keep every room at a comfortable temperature whatever the Glasgow weather, and the spaces are bright and welcoming throughout. Every workstation has a comfortable, height-adjustable chair, so you can settle in properly before your exam begins. The venue is also fully wheelchair accessible, with DDA-compliant WCs.
Your exam day starts in a dedicated reception and registration area, where our team will check you in calmly and efficiently. From there, you will be seated in one of three separate exam rooms of varying sizes, which together provide our 50 seats.
Having three rooms gives us real flexibility. We can run different exams side by side, keep sessions to a sensible size and offer more dates across the week. The smallest room is ideal as a sole-use room for candidates who need one, or as a quiet space for speaking tests.
Find us for your exam
If you have sat an exam with us before at our old venue, please note our new address below. Washington Street is a short walk west of the city centre, in the Anderston area close to the Broomielaw and the River Clyde.
MTS Glasgow
107a The Pentagon Business Centre (1st floor)
36 - 38 Washington Street
Glasgow
G3 8AZ
What exams we deliver in Glasgow
We are delighted to be offering:
IELTS (non-SELT) exams - both Academic and General Training modules, and we also offer both the IELTS on Computer and the IELTS on Computer (Writing on Paper) formats.
LanguageCert SELT exams (and if you use our special discount code 17EACE you can get 5% off the retail price of your test!)
Oxford Test of English exams
ACCA on Demand and ACCA sessional exams
Pearson VUE on Demand exams and certifications
AAT assessments
...and many more professional exams.
If you are business client and wish to know more about our Glasgow venue, get in touch at info@mtsglobal.uk.com