Support in exams

If I do not have exam support in place, what should I do?

Please book an appointment with a Disability Adviser as soon as possible. You will need to provide evidence of your disability which can be in the form of a letter from your GP, an educational psychologist assessment or a report from a medical or clinical practitioner. You will also need to register with the service which you can do by completing the registration form. Your Disability Adviser will be able to provide more details about this.

How do I book an appointment?

To make an appointment with a Disability Adviser:

• Complete the Disability Services Appointment Request Form
• Visit iPoint in person in Student Central
• Call iPoint on 01484 471001

Appointments are offered online, via telephone or in person.

Prior to meeting your adviser to discuss exam support, please consider what challenges you face during timed assessments. It would help to also think about the following:

• Whether you require support in all types of assessment - for example, you may have multiple choice exams or essay questions.
• Do you need support in both long and short exams?
• Will you need support in online exams, on campus exams, or both?

 

Cut off dates for exam support to be put in place

If you do not already have exam support in place but need to do so, you will need to provide evidence to Disability Services and have a meeting with a Disability Adviser by the following dates:

For the January 2024 exam period - Monday 4 December 2023

For the May 2024 exam period - Friday 5 April 2024

If you have an exam or in-class test outside the January and May exam periods, please note the cut off date for registering and providing evidence to Disability Services is three weeks before the date of the exam.

 

Do I need to do anything if I have exam support in my Personal Learning Support Plan?

If you already have a Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP) in place which identifies the support you require in exams, you do not need to contact Disability Services.

What if I need to review my existing exam support?

If you feel the adjustments in your Personal Learning Support Plan are not accurate, book an appointment with a Disability Adviser to review the recommendations. Please ensure you review the exam support ahead of the cut-off date.

How do I book an appointment?

To make an appointment with a Disability Adviser:

• Complete the Disability Services Appointment Request Form
• Visit iPoint in person in Student Central
• Call iPoint on 01484 471001

Appointments are offered online, via telephone or in person.

How will I find out about the arrangements for my exam support?

You will receive an email from your Academic School with the details of your exam arrangements. Where you have additional time, you require a separate room or you require the use of a computer for example, this will be detailed in the email.

Please note, you may first receive an email from Registry Services with exam arrangements which does not consider your adjustments. This is an automatically created email and it does not mean that your exam support has been overlooked.

If you have any concerns about your exam support and you have not received an email from your Academic School, please speak to a member of the staff team in the School.

What kind of support and adjustments are available for exams?

The support or adjustments recommended for you in exams will depend on the type of exams on your course and the impact of the disability or condition. Please see below for some examples of adjustments and the reasons for the recommendations. This is not an exhaustive list of the adjustments available:

• Extra time - if you need additional time to re-read questions, process or proof-read information, or if you need to take regular breaks when you are sitting a time-limited exam.
• The use of a computer - if you need to use assistive technology in your exam to support with writing or hearing information read aloud.
• A room with limited distraction - you may sit your exam in a room with a small number of other students if you become very easily distracted or are anxious in larger groups of people.
• A separate exam room - if you need to take an exam in a room on your own because you may be working with an exam support worker, you need to move around the exam room to alleviate pain, or you have significant levels of anxiety.
• Rest breaks - if you have a condition that can cause severe pain or other disruptions to your concentration, or need time to make medication, eat or drink due to a condition or disability.
• Exam Support Workers - to assist with writing the exam response, reading the exam paper or your exam script aloud, or help with keeping on track during an exam. Please see the Exam Support Worker section for more detail.

Please note, if you have an online exam which you can complete within a 24-hour period (or longer), additional time is not applied in these circumstances.

Exam Support Workers - an explanation of the roles.

You may be recommended an Exam Support Worker to assist you during your exam. You will always be recommended a separate exam room and additional time if you have an Exam Support Worker.

You may provide an amanuensis or reader a list of subject-specific terminology ahead of the exam, but only where this does not compromise the assessment criteria. During the exam, the Support Worker may not provide any factual help or content for you to include in the exam. They are not permitted to indicate by word or action that you have made an error.

Different Exam Support Worker roles and what support they can give you during an exam:

Amanuensis - can transcribe your responses to the exam if you are unable to write or have difficulties writing for long periods of time.

• The amanuensis must write exactly what you dictate.
• The amanuensis can ask you to repeat what you have said.
• You can complete sections of the exam paper yourself. Any sections of the exam completed by the amanuensis should state 'By amanuensis' at the start and end of their section.

Reader - can read aloud either from the exam paper or your exam answer script if it helps you to more effectively process information.

• The reader must read any text exactly and cannot correct or alter any information or errors.
• The reader can read all the information on the exam paper or answer script or just sections - it is your responsibility to give instructions about this to the reader.

Prompter - can give pre-arranged prompts to you to keep you focused on the exam if you are easily distracted.

• Before the start of the exam, you should speak with the prompter to agree the type and frequency of prompts you require.
• The prompter can give your prompts at regular intervals throughout an exam - for example every 15 minutes.
• The prompter can let you know when it is time to move on to the next question.
• The prompter can encourage you to re-focus on your exam if you have become distracted by something in the exam room.

After an exam where a Support Worker was present, you will be required to complete a 'Declaration of True Record' form. This confirms that the information written by an amanuensis is a true record of what you have said. It also details any other issues that may have been experienced in the exam or confirms there were no issues.