Examination & assessment - alternative arrangements

The purpose of any exam support is to enable you to demonstrate skills, knowledge and ability in your subject in ways which are appropriate to your needs as a disabled student.

Examples:

• Students who have dyslexia may be entitled to additional time in an exam.
• Students may have to use a computer and assistive software instead of handwriting answers.
• A separate room may be needed and for some people with visual impairments a reader is requested.

The main aim is to ensure that where you may be disadvantaged by the usual examination and assessment arrangements, alternatives are considered.

To have accommodations approved, you must contact our tea, provide written medical evidence of your disability and agree a support plan. This support plan is then sent to the exams team who arrange with your exam accommodations with your faculty. 

Due to the high number of students accessing accommodations, youmust give as much notice as possible of their needs - at least four - six weeks before the date of the exam. Please refer to "Information for Disabled Students: Examination & Assessment Accommodations" - see below.

The exam accommodations system relies on you to keep us informed of any change to circumstances e.g. changes of teaching staff, mobile number etc. - Remember to keep us up to date!

Continuous Assessment

Most courses incorporate other types of assessment, such as presentations, multi-choice papers, group projects and time-constrained assessments, which do not appear on the January or May examination timetable. As these are by individual lecturers, it is your responsibility to discuss and plan accommodations with the appropriate lecturer. We can provide guidance and it is strongly recommended that students consult with staff well in advance of the assessment.

Early Contact - Be prepared!

You should contact us early in your first term to talk about how the examination accommodation system works and to make sure that we are aware of your needs.

Waiting until a few days before exams will not give us sufficient time to organise accommodations and subsequently it will not be possible to get the right sort of arrangement in place. We require at least 4 weeks notice to implement exam accommodations.  

Remember, there are hundreds of students requesting examination accommodations and it takes time to co-ordinate all this between the Disability Support Team, the Exams Team and Faculties. 

For more details, please read:

• the  (PDF)
• the Examination & Assessment Procedures for Disabled Students & Students with SpLDs (PDF)