Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and special consideration
Supporting fair and accessible assessment for all learners.
JCQ provides comprehensive guidance and resources to help schools, colleges and other educational establishments support students with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries in accessing exams and assessments fairly and effectively. Our Access Arrangements framework ensures that all learners can demonstrate their knowledge and skills without compromising the standards being assessed.
What we provide
Access Arrangements are adjustments made before exams, based on evidence of need and how a student normally works. These arrangements help students with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access assessments without changing what is being tested, helping awarding organisations meet their duties under equality legislation across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Reasonable Adjustments may be tailored to individual students and go beyond standard access arrangements, ensuring no disabled person is substantially disadvantaged when taking an assessment.
Special Consideration is a different process entirely from Access Arrangements. It provides adjustments to marks or grades after exams for students who were affected by temporary illness, injury or other circumstances at the time of assessment.
Related documents
- Comprehensive regulations and guidance documents covering all aspects of access arrangements and reasonable adjustments
- Application forms and templates to streamline the approval process
- Online application systems through our Centre Admin Portal for efficient processing
- Training materials and webinars to support staff in schools, colleges and other educational establishments in implementing arrangements effectively.
- Regular updates and communications to keep centres informed of changes and best practice
Working together with our member awarding organisations, we help ensure that assessment remains accessible, fair and consistent for all learners across the UK.
- An overview of the access arrangements and reasonable adjustments process for centres accepting private candidates
- A guide to the special consideration process from September 2025
- Decoding guidance for readers – Maths and Science exams
- Estimating the missing mark when a candidate is absent from an examination
- Guidance for parents, carers and students about access arrangements
- Access Arrangements: A guide for teaching staff
- Access arrangements when a candidate changes centre
- Overview of evidence requirements for access arrangements (effective from 1 September 2025)
- A guide to the special consideration process for General and Vocational qualifications from September 2025
- Adjustments for candidates with disabilities and learning difficulties
- Guidance regarding parental/candidate requests for access arrangements when the centre has no evidence of need
- Assessing the need for Access Arrangements in Exams: An update to the 7th edition of the Patoss guide
- Guidance for centres on remote invigilation
