Access Arrangements
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Contents
What are Access Arrangements?
Who are Access Arrangements for?
How are Access Arrangements organised?
How are Access Arrangements assessed?
How are Access Arrangements Assessors trained?
The main considerations
Some Important Changes for 2016/17
Possible Tests
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What are Access Arrangements?
Access Arrangements are pre-examination adjustments for
candidates based on evidence of need and normal way of
working. Access Arrangements fall into two distinct
categories: some arrangements are delegated to centres,
others require prior JCQCICawarding body approval.
Access Arrangements allow candidates/learners with special
educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to
access the assessment without changing the demands of the
assessment. For example, readers, scribes and Braille
question papers. In this way Awarding Bodies will comply
with the duty of the Equality Act 2010 to make 'reasonable
adjustments'
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Who are Access Arrangements for?
• Access Arrangements remove the barriers of disability to
allow students to express their knowledge.
• They can be used to provide additional time for students
with processing difficulties.
• Dyslexic students can use readers and scribes to
circumvent the barrier of the written word.
• Autistic students can have language modified to ensure
they answer the question set or have the clock stopped to
allow them a rest break, or be provided with a prompt to
ensure they move on in a timely fashion.
These are just a few examples of the difficulties that students face that
can cause them problems in exams, even though they have nothing to
do with the content of the exams themselves.
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How are Access Arrangements organised?
• The Exams Officer is key to the smooth running of access
arrangements.
• Access Arrangements form part of the whole school
exams arrangements.
• The Exams Officer will be instrumental in organising
invigilators, readers and scribes and other arrangements
for students.
• The SENCO will need to be involved to ensure Form 8s are
written, the background information is collated and the
“Normal Way of Working” is established.
• A qualified exams access arrangements assessor will need
to be involved to conduct the required tests to support
the application for access arrangements to JCQ.
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How are Access Arrangements Assessed?
Access Arrangements Assessors:
• Specialist Teacher with SpLD Assessment Practising
Certificate(awarded by BDA, Dyslexia Action or PATOSS)
• Education professional with Level 7 (postgraduate)
certificate in assessment
The SENCO may need to buy in this provision if it is not
available within the centre.
It is the responsibility of the SENCO to arrange these
assessments.
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How are Access Arrangements Assessors trained?
A number of Access Arrangements courses exist, from
courses that can take up to one year to 3 day intensive
courses.
Updates to Access Arrangements are made every year.
It is important to ensure training is updated annually.
Communicate-ed provide a good range of update training for
every level, from invigilation to reader/ scribe training and
including full updates on all JCQ changes.
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The main considerations
• How many students require Access Arrangements in your
school?
• How many Teaching Assistants/ invigilators do you have
access to?
• Is their training up to date?
• How many additional spaces do you have available in
your setting?
• Is the paperwork readily available?
• Signed data protection form
• Specialist tests conducted
• Form 8
• Normal Way of Working Documents
• Evidence of consultation with teachers
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Access Arrangements should
reflect the support that the
candidate is usually given:
•
•
•
•
•
In the classroom
Small groups for Literacy
Additional support lessons
Internal tests
Mock exams
Access arrangements can be
withdrawn if the candidate
does not make use of the
support available.
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Some Important Changes for 2016/17
• JCQ inspectors can visit any time and will need to see
your evidence.
• They may also want to see your Access Arrangements in
operation.
• The deadline of 21st February is enforced this year.
• 25% extra time is no longer automatically awarded with
reader and scribe, and so also requires application.
• Extra time needs to be proved on the basis of below
average reading, writing, cognitive processing or working
memory, or an EHCP.
• 1:1 readers do not require separate invigilation, although
a roving invigilator is required.
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Some Important Changes for 2016/17
• Transcript is no longer available
• 1:1 practical assistants can also be the invigilator
• Maximum additional time for bilingual dictionary is 10%
for candidates in the country for less than 3 years
• SENCos must ensure that the full supporting evidence is
in place before an on-line application is processed.
Back
Possible Tests
(NB. this is not an exhaustive list)
Oral Language
Modifier
Product
Extra Time
Reader
ART
YES
YES
CTOPP2
YES
DASH
YES
YES
DASH 17+
YES
YES
DRA
YES
YES
GORT-5
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
GSRT
YES
GWST
YES
HORT
YES
TOWRE-II
YES
WIAT-II UK T
YES
WRAT 4
WRMT-III
Scribe
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES