Exams can be daunting for everybody in the classroom, but for students with dyslexia, they can pose an even greater challenge. That’s where JCQ Access Arrangements come in – they’re a set of guidelines and changes to the exam setup to make it as fair and accessible as possible. It’s about evening the playing field.

Sounds complicated? It doesn’t have to be: if you’re looking for support in securing JCQ Access Arrangements for a student with dyslexia, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know… with none of the confusing stuff, because we’re good like that.

So: JCQ Access Arrangements.

We’ll start with the simple stuff.

JCQ Access Arrangements is the umbrella term for provisions made for students with specific needs – such as learning differences and neurodiversities, physical disabilities or mental health challenges – to ensure that they can access their GCSE exams in an equitable way. They’re overseen by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the main UK awarding bodies such as AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel, and WJEC.

Who qualifies for JCQ Access Arrangements?

Pupils in the UK can get access arrangements from JCQ for a range of conditions that fall under four main categories of need. These categories, with examples of specific conditions, are:

Cognition and learning needs:

·      Dyslexia

·      Dyscalculia

·      General learning difficulties

Communication and interaction needs:

·      Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

·      Speech and language difficulties

Sensory and physical needs:

·      Visual impairments

·      Hearing impairments

·      Physical disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy)

·      Temporary injuries (e.g., a broken arm before an exam)

Social, emotional, and mental health needs:

·      Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

·      Depression

·      Anxiety disorders

But even with one of these conditions, there’s no guarantee of support: each application is considered individually based on the scope of need, and a diagnosis alone does not guarantee access arrangements.

How do I secure JCQ Access Arrangements for a dyslexic student in my care?

—and nothing else, right?

We get it. You’ve got a pile of marking towering over your desk, six parent emails to send, and your coffee went cold somewhere in the region of three hours ago. You don’t necessarily… care all that much about an in-depth history of Access Arrangements right now, even if you’re dedicated to doing the best by your SEN students.

So here’s all the need-to-know process stuff, with nothing extra added ⬇️

So how does the JCQ Access Arrangements process work for a dyslexic student?

Step 1: Identify their needs

This often starts in the classroom, but it can come from the parent side of things too. Teachers and SENCOs might notice that a student is slower at completing tasks than their peers are, that they find reading comprehension challenging, or that there are signs of dyslexia appearing in their written work. But since you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re already very aware of Step 1.

Step 2: Gathering your evidence

An application for JCQ Access Arrangements requires a large amount of evidence-gathering, assessment and examinations of the support and tools that make up a student’s Normal Way of Working (NWoW). That means they require a lot of effort and hours from the SENCo and their team.

When you’re building your case, include:

·      Educational evidence, such as some of the student’s classwork that best evidences the persistent difficulties they’re experiencing

·      Standardised assessments that show evidence of a student’s processing speed, working memory, and reading comprehension skills

·      Medical and/or assessment evidence, such as reports from doctors or other primary care practitioners, therapists, assessors and educational psychologists.

Step 3: The application and the Form 8

…And all of this information then needs to go into a document called a Form 8. You can download the template for one from the JCQ website here.

A Form 8 is the piece of JCQ documentation that unlocks access arrangements in exams for students in the UK who have access needs, but don’t have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). SENCos usually complete Form 8 around the end of the student’s Year 9.

And remember: the school or college must retain a signed copy of each student’s Form 8 by the SENCo or Access Arrangements co-ordinator for inspection processes to support an approved application processed online, so save those completed documents where you can find them if you need to.

Step 4: Approval

The Form 8 then progresses through the JCQ Access Arrangements Online (AAO) platform for review. Some arrangements are automatically approved through the portal, but some that are more complex or lack the depth of information required on Form 8 tend to trigger a request for more evidence, review or resubmission.

A completed and approved Form 8 unlocks JCQ access arrangements, such as:

⏰ Extra time (25%, or 26-50%, dependent on the scope of need)

💬 Language modifiers

✍ A scribe, to support students with writing needs

🕊️ Supervised rest breaks, when combined with other accommodations

🎧 A reader, reading pen or computer reader, to support students with reading needs

Step 5: Implementation

Once your Form 8 is approved, the school or college is responsible for ensuring the arrangements are in place for all internal and external exams. It’s also a good idea to use the time before exams kick off to liaise with the student, and to work through any teething problems or insecurities they might have about the support they’ve been approved for.

How to survive the ‘Oh No!’ moment

So, you’ve realised that you’ve got a student who needs reading support in their exams… but you’re past the deadline by which a Form 8 needed to be submitted.

Don’t panic. It happens more often than you think: especially when students are older, it can be harder to spot evidence of neurodiverse differences like dyslexia, as by Key Stage 3 many students have learned to work around them – or even work hard to conceal them, because they don’t want their peers to know.

We’ll say it again. Because you’re panicking: don’t panic. They can still get the support they need to achieve a fair grade, and unlock the learning and working future they dream of. Here’s how:

...Already past the deadline?

Try C-Pen Exam Reader 2!

Some arrangements fall into the category of ‘centre-delegated’ JCQ Access Arrangements. They are administrated slightly differently, and don’t require SENCos to submit a Form 8 to unlock them for the students in their care, so they can be implemented by schools and colleges without the need for any process on the JCQ side.

We’re proud to be the providers of one of the most popular centre-delegated reading support tools used in GCSE exams: the award-winning C-Pen Exam Reader 2!

Students simply scan the page in front of them and listen to the discreet audio feedback through a comfy pair of headphones. Multi-modal reading means comprehension gets a boost, and confidence skyrockets, so students can focus on the answers that unlock their futures. Students don’t need to have an identified disability to access one, either: all that matters is that a reading pen has become that student’s Normal Way of Working, and that there’s evidence of that noted down.

…And that’s not all: because there’s no need for Form 8s and lengthy evidence-gathering, assessing and administrating procedures, your SENCo gets a healthy dose of extra time freed up at the point in the school year when they need it the most.

You can learn more about using C-Pen Exam Reader 2 to provide support when you’re past the deadline at our blog, Fed up of Form 8s? Try Exam Reader 2 for JCQ Access Arrangements on easy mode!

No Form 8s, no deadlines – no problem!

✅ Approved for use in exams by JCQ!

✅ Zero-storage, no need for Wi-Fi

✅ Beat the rising cost of human readers

✅ No need for separate rooming!

✅ No need for Form 8s – just establish as Normal Way of Working (NWoW)!

✅ Centre-delegated arrangement: provide support when you’re past the deadline!

The secret benefits of reading support nobody talks about

Sometimes, it’s about more than the words on the page. Let’s take two scenarios and compare them.

It’s the night before this year’s GCSE History exam, and we have two dyslexic Year 11 students about to wrap up their revision for the evening.

But Student A doesn’t have any reading support for the exam. She knows she will head into the exam hall and immediately be confronted with a lot of reading, from the instructions on the front cover to the source excerpts and questions that she’ll need to answer. It’ll take her more time to get through them than her peers, and that’s time she should be using for writing. And there’s another fear nagging at her, too: she tends to misread things. What if she misreads something now? What if it impacts her grade—will college still accept her?

Student B, however, has exam support in the form of a C-Pen Exam Reader 2. She knows that whatever is on the question paper, she’ll be able to understand it perfectly, because she’ll be able to listen to it as many times as she needs, and keep pace with her peers (and, of course, the ever-ticking clock on the gym wall). It’s all down to her now, but that feels… okay?

All she needs to focus on for that hour and forty-five minutes is her answer. She’s got this.

Knowing they’ve got support lined up means so much to learners.

Whether they seek support via a Form 8 application or take the stress-free route with an Exam Reader 2 as a centre-delegated Access Arrangement, knowing they have support when needed greatly benefits a student’s mental health. Without it, learners who know their reading skills don’t always step up to the mark sometimes can find themselves in an anxiety spiral – and this is especially true if they’re revising away from the classroom, either in the evenings or on study leave.

And that anxiety isn’t just unpleasant in itself. Stressed brains don’t perform their best in exams or revision either, so grades can be impacted in a big way: they struggle to remember things, they can freeze, and they can hugely impact a student’s ability to process and engage with the information on hand.

So it’s impossible to overstate the importance of heading into the exam feeling secure, relaxed and confident. When students know that there’s something there that’s got their back, they’re in the best position possible to show the examiner everything they can do, and walk away with everything they need to open the door to the next level, whether that’s work training or further study.

Discover how C-Pen Exam Reader 2 can transform exam support for your students and put them in the best possible position to achieve the grades they deserve.

Claim your FREE 30-day trial today and see the difference it makes!

Have questions or need tailored advice about how to implement JCQ Access Arrangements when you’re past the deadline? Our friendly team of reading support experts is here to help find the perfect solution for your Trust, school, or classroom needs.

📧 Email us: ukinfo@scanningpens.com

☎️ Call us: +44 (0) 207 976 4910