Access Arrangements FAQs

Your questions about access arrangements, answered

Once we have received your application, we will email requesting the relevant evidence according to your needs. This can vary between candidates.

The regulations state that Specialist evidence must be supported by a letter from a medical consultant or equivalent.

The examination board needs evidence of your Access Arrangements being used; we therefore need a mock exam to show the Access Arrangements in use. Because we are not a school, we do not have historical information and data on the needs of the candidate.

A Form 8 assessment is an assessment completed by our qualified specialist that shows which areas a candidate is having the most difficulties in and what access arrangements are needed, it should reflect the candidate’s normal way of working.
The assessment will assess various areas of the candidate’s working ability, such as reading accuracy and speed, writing speed, spelling, comprehension, and processing speed.

The examination boards have their deadlines published on their websites. We set our own internal deadlines prior to the examination boards so that we have enough time to review the evidence and process an application. This process is essential in ensuring that your application meets the criteria of the awarding body. Please wait for us to email you with the outcome of the examination board.

The regulations state that your phone must be kept in Airplane mode on the invigilator’s desk. You can ask to be supervised whilst you check your app. You are allowed to bring in a glucose drink in a clear label less plastic bottle. You can also bring in glucose tablets in silent clear packaging. You must submit an access arrangements application before the deadline so we can put this into place for you.

No, sorry. The regulations state that only water in a clear label less bottle is allowed into the exam room.

We must collect evidence of need before we approve this. Your pen must have no Bluetooth connectivity and no spelling or grammar-checking functions. A C-Pen is the recommended one for exams.

We do not charge for Access Arrangements, access arrangement mocks and Form 8’s are free of charge. The exam boards stopped all companies charging for Access Arrangements 2 years ago.

We reserve own rooms for those candidates with well documented evidence of needing a reader/scribe. Please note that not all of our Centres have this facility, and they are booked a year in advance usually.

We reserve Home Invigilation for those candidates with a complex medical condition and well documented evidence of being unable to leave the house. We understand that Anxiety can be debilitating, however, we do not have the resources to facilitate Home Invigilation for candidates other that those with a complex medical need.

We have a limited resource of laptops across all our centres. These are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to candidates with well-documented evidence of need. The regulations state a laptop cannot be offered on the basis that it is a candidate’s preferred way of working i.e. if you are an online learner or a home-educated candidate.
Candidates must be prepared for sitting written exam papers.

Sorry, no. The regulations do not permit this. Only ear defenders are allowed in the exam if they are approved via the access arrangement process. No headphones or ear buds are allowed.