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Access arrangements for private candidates with SEN
What are access arrangements?
A student with special needs or disabilities may need extra time, a reader or some other concession to enable them to sit GCSE exams. These adjustments are termed ‘access arrangements’ and parents need to confirm them with the exam centre well in advance.
Obtaining access arrangements may involve a great deal more time, trouble and expense than just making an entry for an exam in the normal way. Further, a very specific type of proof is required to support the application.
There are cases where parents have paid £500 for a dyslexia report from a professional in private practice but this doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the exam centre will accept the need for assistance and apply for access arrangements.
It is anticipated that the regulator will be increasingly strict in enforcing proof for access arrangements and what has worked in the past for other people will not necessarily be sufficient in future. Parents will need to ensure that they investigate and make their plans well in advance of making the entry for the young person’s exams.
Many home educated students spread exams over a number of years, but access arrangements may be time limited. The general rule is that if they are secured before year 9, they may ‘expire’ in 26 months and a completely new report will be required.
How to apply: types of evidence
When the exam centre applies for access arrangements it is necessary to ‘paint a picture of need’ to the Joint Council of Qualifications (JCQ) or to the awarding body (exam board).
Parents should expect the exam centre to ask for one of the following: a statement of SEN or an Education Health and Care Plan; a report from an approved specialist assessor; or proof of a medical or psychological condition.
However, in order to ‘paint a picture of need’ centres will also be more vigilant in collecting evidence designed to show that this is the candidate’s ‘normal way of working within the centre’ and this is likely to have a particular impact on private candidates who are not known to them.
Faregos Exam Centre: help with assessments
First, a plea from the Centre: Please do not leave it too late!
Faregos Exam Centre in Hampshire is run by home educators and has come up with a solution to assist students to obtain access arrangements and to enable the centre to demonstrate that it is familiar with the candidate’s normal way of working.
The procedure has been designed to keep costs as low as possible for families while at the same time ensuring that there is robust evidence for JCQ or the exam board.
For candidates planning to sit exams in 2017 who already have sufficient written evidence of need and who know that access arrangements will be required, please sign up for an exam assessment session at Faregos with a qualified assessor. This is necessary so that the centre can prove it is familiar with the candidate’s normal way of working and is not relying on a report from someone the centre doesn’t know.
The dates for these exam assessment sessions are 18th November 2016 or 20th January 2017. Please contact head@faregos.org.
Candidates starting from scratch who don’t have written evidence are offered low cost preliminary screening, to see if it is worth parents committing to pay the full exam assessment fee.
The preliminary screening session will take place on Saturday 15th October 2016. Please contact head@faregos.org
More information here
http://ehe-sen.org.uk/exams.php
Fiona Nicholson
www.edyourself.org