Exam access arrangements

Access arrangements are changes to how exams are written, assessed or delivered to make sure deaf children and young people are not unfairly disadvantaged because of their deafness.

Some deaf children and young people have difficulties with language or language processing. This can make it harder for them to know what they’re being asked or to show what they understand about a subject. For example, they might need more time to read the questions in an exam, especially in subjects like History that require good reading and writing skills.

Qualifications help children and young people show what they have achieved in school and work. It’s important that deaf children and young people have fair access to exams and assessments.

Schools, colleges, universities and awarding bodies must make arrangements so that deaf students can access exams fairly.

The law

The Equality Act 2010 (or Disability Discrimination Act in Northern Ireland) requires awarding bodies to make reasonable adjustments for children and young people who are legally considered disabled. This is to ensure they are not at a substantial disadvantage compared to someone who is not disabled.

Access arrangements are reasonable adjustments that enable children and young people with specific needs to show their what they know and can do. They do not change what the exam is testing. The aim is to support each learner while keeping the assessment fair.

A reasonable adjustment may be unique to your child and may or may not be included in the list of available access arrangements. For example, they may request to be seated at the front of the exams room so they can see the exams invigilator because they wanted to lip-read any instructions.

Eligibility

All deaf children and young people should be considered for access arrangements, but not all will need them. Schools, colleges, universities and exam centres must identify possible barriers to accessing the exam and look for the most appropriate access arrangement.

A deaf young person does not need a statutory plan to be eligible for an access arrangement. A ‘statutory plan’ can refer to any of the following, depending on where you live:

• Education Health and Care plan in England
• Child's Plan, Individualised Educational Programme or Co-ordinated Support Plan in Scotland
• Individual Development Plan in Wales
• Statement of Special Educational Needs in Northern Ireland.

When to make access arrangements

Access arrangements should be identified as soon as or before your child starts their course or learning pathway. They need to be agreed before any assessment happens.

It’s important to discuss these arrangements early so your child knows what to expect and the school can prepare.

If your child has a statutory plan, access arrangements should be discussed at their annual review before the course begins.

Who is responsible

The people responsible for understanding access arrangements and putting them in place are the:

• head of exams centre
• senior leadership team for your child’s education institution
• exam leaders and assessors.

Teaching staff also need to help identify, decide on, and put in place the right access arrangements.

Schools, colleges, universities and exam centres will need to work with the other professionals supporting your child. This may include their Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People (QToD), educational psychologist and other educational and medical professionals.

If your child is at a sixth form college, further education college or university, the staff member in charge of additional learning support should discuss exam access arrangements along with their everyday support needs. This can happen before your child enrols, but it’s usually discussed when they start the course.

Vocational qualifications and apprenticeship end-point assessments

The rules for vocational qualifications are different to those for GCSEs, A levels, Standards and Highers. However, organisations that award vocational qualifications must still make reasonable adjustments.

An awarding body cannot refuse a reasonable adjustment unless they can show that it interferes with a ‘competence standard’. A competence standard is a particular type of skill that must be demonstrated. For example, in a hospitality course, a competence standard might be to ‘apply communication and team-working skills in addressing a work-related problem’. A reasonable adjustment would be allowing a student to demonstrate this skill by using email instead of a spoken conversation.

Deaf students should make sure their assessment centre is aware of their deafness ahead of time so they’re not unfairly disadvantaged during their assessment.

Higher education

Universities must also make reasonable adjustments for exams. However, adjustments will vary depending on the institution and the course. Universities can only refuse to make adjustments if they believe it would compromise ‘academic standards’. These aren’t as clearly defined by law as ‘competence standards’.

All universities should have a clear policy explaining how they define ‘academic standards’ and how they handle exam access arrangements.

If the young person has Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), this should help them get support and adjustments while studying. To get DSA, they will have an assessment to determine what help they need, including support for exams and other aspects of university life. This assessment can be updated as the student goes through the course.

Examples of access arrangements

Here are some common access arrangements for deaf children and young people. The rules may be different for vocational qualifications and university exams.

Technology

Any equipment your child uses in everyday classes should be allowed in exams, where possible. For example, if they use a radio aid or streamer, then these can be used in exams and worn by the person giving instructions to students during the exam.

Your child should not be asked to remove their personal hearing devices, such as hearing aids or cochlear implant speech processors. Removing a personal hearing device could:

• cause them to feel disorientated
• impact their emotional wellbeing
• cause unnecessary distractions during exams
• place them at risk in an emergency, for example, if the fire alarm went off. 

If required, your child could switch off Bluetooth or set their hearing devices to ‘flight mode’. 

Your child should already know the rules about where mobile devices and phones should go during exams.

Extra time

Extra time in exams is an option for students who might find it hard to finish their exams in the regular time due to certain conditions. For example, some deaf children may need longer to process what they read.

This extension is usually 25% but can go up to 50% in some cases. A student may be awarded extra time along with another adjustment.

The school or college will need to apply for extra time to the exam board and show proof that this is how your child usually works.

Modified language paper

Exams should always be written in clear and simple English, with input from accredited modifiers from the British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (BATOD) or based on BATOD guidance. Sometimes, however, a paper may need to be modified after the final paper is developed. Modified language papers have been changed to make language and sentence structure easier to understand.

Modified language papers are not available in Scotland. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) gives exam setters guidance on how to write questions in plain English.

Live speaker

Exams that test listening and speaking skills, like French, may have a pre-recorded ‘listening’ assessment. If your child has difficulty understanding speech without lipreading, they should have a live speaker. The live speaker:

• reads out a transcript of the recording
• repeats lines from the transcript
• can fingerspell or write the initial letters of words that could be easily confused, such as ‘deux fois’ and ‘neuf fois’.

Reader

If your child finds it hard to process written text but understands spoken language better, they may need a reader. A reader is someone who will read exam questions out loud so your child can both see and hear the question.

For some exams where reading is being assessed, only computer readers are allowed because they cannot convey meaning through tone of voice. If your child needs to lip-read, then a lip speaker (someone trained to mouth lip patterns clearly) could be requested with the computer reader.

Read aloud

Your child may benefit from reading text, questions, or their own writing out loud. Where reading is being tested, they can have 50% extra time to read out loud. This may help them process what they are reading.

Language modifier

Language modifiers (LMs) can help clarify the wording of a question during an exam. An LM is usually a QToD, a qualified communication professional, or a teaching assistant who has completed accredited training.

To qualify for an LM, a student must have a standardised reading score below 69 and need a modified paper.

LMs can use sign language, speak or write their explanations, but they cannot explain any technical terms. They can be used for most exams, except for the reading part of an English exam. Any changes must be recorded for the awarding body.

LMs are not available in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Communication professional

If your child’s preferred language is British Sign Language (BSL), they may need exams translated into BSL.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a communication professional can present questions in BSL (or Irish Sign Language in Northern Ireland) but must not modify or explain the questions. The communicator is expected to fingerspell technical terms.

Students can only sign answers if they can fingerspell them or where the answer is just one word.

A communication professional is not allowed in English, Gaelic, Welsh or modern foreign language exams for the speaking, listening or writing sections. However, they can help clarify instructions. Communication professionals should be filmed to make sure they are translating the exam accurately. 

For the Functional Skills qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a communication professional is allowed for the speaking, listening and communication parts.

In Scotland, the centre can apply for a candidate to take the exam in BSL, either to receive the paper in BSL, to give answers in BSL, or both. Students are expected to use signs for technical terms, and the communicators signing the exam must do the same. See more guidance about using sign language in Scottish exams (SQA website).

Exemptions from part of an exam

Sometimes it’s not possible to adjust an exam without fundamentally changing what’s being assessed. For example, the speaking and listening part of an English GCSE requires students to hear and use spoken language. This might not be possible for a deaf student who uses BSL, even with a communication professional. If this is the case, your child may qualify for an exemption from that part of the exam. This must be agreed before the exam, and your child must complete at least 60% of the total exam.

When an exemption is given, your child’s marks are ‘enhanced’. Their final grade will combine the marks they earned with the national average for the exemption, allowing them to still be able to get the highest grades in these exams. The certificate they receive when they get their results will show that they were given an exemption.

Music exams

Music exams may have a listening requirement. The music teacher should consult with your child and their QToD (if they have one) to identify what parts might be hard to access. The awarding body will give more guidance around what arrangements may be possible.

Electronic tests

Many assessments are now carried out electronically. No matter how the exam is given, the same access arrangements should be provided. It’s important to consider any additional barriers that may come from the exam being delivered electronically.

What to do if there’s a problem

If your child is refused an adjustment they are eligible for, or if they took an exam where adjustments should have been made, but weren’t, you should talk to the school, exams centre, college or university and follow their complaints process.

If you’re still not satisfied after making a complaint, contact our Freephone Helpline.

If you’re thinking about taking legal action, the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS website) can advise you on your legal options and what to do next.

In Scotland, Govan Law can provide advice and information on education law.

More information

• Joint Council for Qualifications website has information about access arrangements and special considerations for GCSEs, A levels, Scottish Highers as well as vocational qualifications.
• Scottish Qualifications Authority's website has information about access arrangements for Scottish qualifications.
• Additional support for apprenticeship end-point assessments (GOV.UK)

The information on this page was developed in partnership with the British Association for Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (BATOD).