Key Facts
| Standard extra time | 25% extra time; 26% to 50% extra time needs strong justification and is applied for online. Source: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/ |
|---|---|
| When the Form 8 assessment can take place | Part 2 of Form 8 is carried out no earlier than the start of Year 9. Source: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/ |
| Standardised scores needed for 25% extra time (learning difficulty) | At least two below average scores of 84 or less, or one of 84 or less and one low average score of 85 to 89, in two different areas of speed of working. Source: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/ |
| Assessor qualification | Postgraduate course at or equivalent to Level 7, including at least 100 hours on individual specialist assessment. Source: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/ |
Figures correct at the time of writing. Confirm current fees and deadlines with the school or university directly.
JCQ access arrangements work through the school or college, which decides which adjustments suit a pupil with persistent and significant difficulties and, for the larger ones, applies on the pupil's behalf through the awarding bodies' Access Arrangements Online system. Parents cannot apply to the exam board themselves, and every arrangement has to be approved before the exam. Evidence of need and of how the pupil normally works in lessons and mocks sits behind each decision, so a private report on its own does not secure anything.
For a parent weighing up one-to-one tuition, the practical questions are which arrangements are available, who decides, and how practice with the chosen arrangement can become part of the child's normal way of working, with tuition running alongside the support the school already provides. The guide at /blog/exam-access-arrangements covers who qualifies and how to apply in more detail.
What are extra time, a reader, a scribe, a word processor and the other arrangements?
Each arrangement removes one specific barrier in the exam room, from the time available to the way questions are read and answers are recorded. The purpose of an arrangement is to prevent a disabled candidate from being placed at a substantial disadvantage by persistent and significant difficulties, whilst the integrity of the assessment is maintained. Because the same arrangement can suit very different pupils, the school chooses each one against the individual evidence.
- Extra time: longer to complete the paper.
- Reader or computer reader: questions read aloud by a person or by software.
- Scribe or speech recognition technology: answers written down by a person, or turned into text from speech by software.
- Word processor: answers typed on a computer.
- Supervised rest breaks: breaks taken under supervision during the exam.
- Alternative rooming: sitting the exam away from the main exam room.
- Coloured overlays: coloured sheets placed over the page.
- Prompter: a person who prompts the candidate to keep working through the paper.
Which arrangements can the school put in place, and which need an online application?
The centre can put supervised rest breaks, a word processor, alternative rooming and several other adjustments in place itself, whereas extra time, a reader or computer reader and a scribe or speech recognition technology need an online application. Read aloud, which can include an exam reading pen, belongs on the centre's side of that line, so a family hearing the word reader used loosely should ask the SENCo which one the school means.
- Applied for online: extra time at the standard level, extra time beyond it, computer reader or reader, scribe or speech recognition technology, a practical assistant, remote invigilation and timetable variation.
- Put in place by the centre: supervised rest breaks, a word processor, alternative rooming, read aloud, a prompter, coloured overlays, question papers on coloured paper or enlarged, a low vision aid or magnifier, ear defenders or ear plugs, fidget toys, squared paper for visual-spatial difficulties and a timer on the desk.
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Enquire about this tutorWho applies for JCQ access arrangements, and can a parent apply to the exam board?
The school or college applies, usually through its SENCo, and parents cannot apply to the exam board directly. The centre makes the decisions on appropriate arrangements, and the SENCo must ensure that a proposed arrangement does not unfairly disadvantage or advantage the candidate. Applications go through the Access Arrangements Online system, with approval in place before the exam. A parent's practical route is to ask the SENCo which arrangements the school thinks suit the child and what evidence it is gathering, and to describe what the child finds hard in reading, writing or timed work.
What does the normal way of working mean?
The normal way of working means an arrangement must reflect the support the pupil already receives in the centre, such as in the classroom, in small groups for reading or writing, in support lessons and in timed internal tests and mocks. Arrangements rest on evidence of need and on how the student normally works, and they do not change what is being tested. A pupil who has never used a word processor or a reader in lessons or mocks therefore gives the school little evidence of a normal way of working.
What evidence does the school need for extra time?
For extra time on the basis of a learning difficulty, the SENCo needs either an EHC plan in place in England that confirms the candidate's disability, supplemented by centre-based evidence, or a fully completed Form 8. On the Form 8 route, Part 1 records the present difficulties and the normal way of working, and Part 2 is carried out by an access arrangements assessor who confirms a learning difficulty. The key-facts table and the source page give the earliest point at which that assessment can take place. Either route also needs a sample of internal tests or mocks showing the extra time in use, with teacher comments.
Why is a private report alone not enough?
A privately commissioned assessment carried out without the centre's involvement cannot be used to award arrangements. The Part 2 assessor must have completed a postgraduate course, or an equivalent, that includes specialist training in individual assessment, and the key-facts table gives the level and the hours. A parent considering a private assessment should therefore speak to the SENCo first, so that the school is involved and the Part 1 account of normal working and the mock evidence are gathered alongside it.
What can a parent and a tutor do to prepare?
A parent and a tutor can help the child practise with the arrangement in internal tests and mocks, since those timed papers are where the sample of evidence comes from. One-to-one tuition, paced and structured around how the child learns, runs alongside the support the school already provides, and where the school has put a word processor, a reader or extra time in place, a tutor can build the same arrangement into timed practice in sessions held online across the UK or in person in central London.
- Ask the SENCo which arrangements the school is using or trialling in lessons and mocks.
- Tell the tutor, so that timed practice uses the same arrangement, for example typing answers where a word processor is the normal way of working.
- Ask the child's teachers for comments on how the arrangement is working, since applications are supported by teacher comments.
- Ask whether mock papers showing the arrangement in use are being kept.
How is special consideration different from access arrangements?
Special consideration is separate from access arrangements and applies after the exams, whereas arrangements are made before them. Because an arrangement is built on evidence gathered in lessons, internal tests and mocks, a parent asking what can be in place for a paper still to come is asking about access arrangements, and the SENCo is the person who answers it. Special consideration plays no part in building that evidence.
Related guides
- SEN tutors
- GCSE tutoring
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- Exam access arrangements
- SEN support plans in England
- How to get an EHCP
- Processing speed and working memory tutoring
- Access arrangements in 11+ and 13+ tests
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Families who come to us alongside SEN support at school, an EHC plan or an access arrangements application usually want one-to-one tuition that fits around the support the school already gives. More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status and around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools.
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Frequently asked questions
- Can a candidate with anxiety or attention difficulties get an arrangement?
- Where a candidate has an impairment other than a learning difficulty, or anxiety or attention difficulties, the SENCo should consider supervised rest breaks first. A parent can ask the SENCo how the school would approach the question for their child and what the school would want to see in lessons and mocks before deciding.
- Can a child be given more than the standard amount of extra time?
- More than the standard amount of extra time needs strong justification and substantial centre-based evidence, which the SENCo assembles from lessons, internal tests and mocks. The key-facts table and the source page give the exact figures. A parent can ask the SENCo what the school's mock papers show about how the child uses the time already available.
- Can a tutor assess my child or apply for arrangements?
- No. Tutors cannot diagnose a need, assess for access arrangements or set statutory provision. Their part is regular, well-paced teaching that carries the strategies in an SEN support plan or EHC plan into practice, concentrating on skills a child's needs make harder in a busy classroom, taught in shorter steps with more practice and review.
- What should parents ask the SENCo about their child's exams?
- Useful questions cover who at the school decides on arrangements, what the child already uses in lessons and timed tests, which of those need an online application, which evidence route the school would follow, and whether the school would involve an access arrangements assessor. Asking for the answers in writing gives the tutor and the family the same picture.
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