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What is an Access Arrangement?
If a student has an identified learning need or disability that means that he or she is disadvantaged in comparison to other students of similar ability, he or she may qualify for access arrangements for public examinations. There are a number of different types of access arrangement and these are determined by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). The main ones are listed below. The criteria that must be met for an access arrangement changes frequently and JCQ issue guidance booklets every year. You can access these online – www.jcq.org.uk for information.
Reasonable Adjustments
The Equality Act 2010 requires an Awarding Body (Exam Board) to make reasonable adjustments where a disabled person would be at a substantial disadvantage in undertaking an assessment.
How reasonable the adjustment is will depend on a number of factors including the needs of the disabled candidate/learner. An adjustment may not be considered reasonable if it involves unreasonable costs, timeframes or affects the security or integrity of the assessment. (JCQ 2017)
Access arrangements information
“The SENCo must be satisfied that the candidate has an impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect, giving rise to persistent and significant difficulties; and the candidate is disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010”.
Access Arrangements and Reasonable adjustments - JCQ 2025-26
Please Note: We are not able or allowed to provide rest breaks in advance for anxiety/worry/ stress caused by taking exams. It is normal to feel stressed and worried about exams. Please feel reassured that our exam invigilators are experienced and trained to deal with students who are upset and worried on the day. Extra time for examinations is only appropriate in exceptional circumstances and very rarely for students experiencing anxiety or diagnosed with ASD and ADHD. Lengthening the time of an exam for such students can have an adverse and damaging impact and is very rarely an appropriate reasonable adjustment in such circumstances.
Use of externally commissioned reports
A parent/carer may choose to have their child assessed by a private educational psychologist or private dyslexia assessor. Where parents/carers do commission diagnostic assessments for their child the organisation or individual performing the assessment must have prior contact with the academy to gather background information on the student before going ahead with the assessment. A privately commissioned assessment carried out without prior consultation with the centre cannot be used to support the access arrangements process.
Private reports cost a significant amount of money. This means that parents/carers who are unable to obtain a private report due to their financial circumstances are put at a disadvantage. As an exam centre Holcombe Grammar School must be consistent in its decisions and ensure that no student is either given an unfair advantage or disadvantaged by any arrangements put in place. Therefore, when parents/carers submit such reports, we will look for evidence of a history of need and the student’s normal way of working. Such privately commissioned reports can sometimes be in conflict with what Holcombe Grammar Schools’ Specialist Assessor recommends. If the academy’s diagnostic tests contradict privately commissioned reports, then the academy’s tests and assessments will take precedence and will inform Exam Access Arrangement decisions and no further negotiation regarding this matter will take place with the parent/carer.
