The JCQ Access Arrangements Regulation 2019-2020 document starts by stating that, ‘Access arrangements are the principal way awarding bodies comply with the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 requires an awarding body to make reasonable arrangements where a candidate who is disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010, could be at a disadvantage in comparison to someone who is not disabled. The awarding body is required to take reasonable steps to overcome that disadvantage. Evidence of need: The evidence of need will vary depending on the disability and access arrangement being applied for.’
Being given a diagnosis of, for example, dyslexia, does not automatically bring with it a qualification of need for ‘Access Arrangements’, although dyslexia is a recognised disability in terms of the Equality Act 2010.
But it is very unlikely that an individual who has been assessed as being dyslexic will not have one standard score below 84, in a standardised test that is relevant to being given an Access Arrangement. Every dyslexic student is all too aware of the difficulties they face assimilating the meaning of text without rereading it, or writing facts down at the same pace as their peers. The underlying reason why dyslexic students process words and often numbers
slowly will be due to underdeveloped working memory skills, maybe visual or verbal or both. But this will only be evident if these skills have been formally assessed.
It is important that parents, carers and guardians of students with a specific learning difficulty, make sure that they push for extra help at school as early as possible for the student they care for. This is because the rules re, Access Arrangements, state ‘that a history of need, and a normal way of working’ must be evident in the years leading up to the student taking, for example their G.C.S.Es, if they wish to apply for access arrangements.
It is also relevant for parents and carers to note that, historic, full diagnostic assessments, even written a week before an access arrangement application are not now allowed to be used when applying for an access arrangement.
In terms of an access arrangement report, the carer must first ask if the school is willing to accept an independent assessor’s report, and be willing to fill out the first part of what is called Form 8, which covers the pupil’s history of need, and then send that report to the independent assessor. The assessor is then asked to assess the student and write their assessment in the ‘light of the evidence supplied by the school.’
All this seems to fly in the face of the SEND ACT, page 100, clause 6.45 which states that ‘schools should take seriously any concerns raised by a parent, these should be recorded and compared to the settings own assessment and information on how the pupil is developing.’
This is probably why the JCQ regulations state that, ‘The JCQ recommends that SENCOs and assessors working within the centre should carefully consider any privately commissioned assessment to see whether the processing of
gathering a picture of need, demonstrating a normal way of working and ultimately assessing the candidate themselves should be instigated. (JCQ, page 7)
Sarah Cowell, August, 2019©