Written assessment
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Written assessment can include essays, assignments, reports, dissertations, diaries, portfolios and workbooks. It may take place as course work or in an examination. The following reasonable adjustments may be employed, depending on the needs of the individual.
On this page
Coursework essays and reports
Coursework difficulties may relate to organisation and writing skills, tiredness, accessibility of resource materials or the availability of assistive technologies. Students may receive individual specialist support or may work with a dyslexia tutor. Other support mechanisms for private study may also need to be in place. This support may help to reduce some of the barriers but may not actually ‘level the playing field’ and students may also need adjustments to be made to course work.
The amount of writing required may need reducing, either by amending the type of essay required or by providing alternative methods of presentation.
You could consider setting alternative essay titles, or set tasks in which students work intensively on a few selected texts rather than having to read widely.
Some students with mental health difficulties or specific learning difficulties have difficulty meeting deadlines and may need extensions on coursework assignments. You could consider negotiating an alternative deadline with the student, but extreme flexibility or open-ended arrangements are likely to be unhelpful and may even be counterproductive because the student may fall behind the rest of the group.
Deaf students and students with specific learning difficulties may take longer to do the reading for an assignment and to produce a well-written essay, so they may need to ask for an extension. Without the support of a tutor for the deaf or a dyslexia tutor, their essays may contain mistakes of syntax and grammar. It may be appropriate to consider alternatives to long pieces of written work, such as dissertations, for such students.
Students with visual impairments may use assistive technologies or human support to help with their research for a written assignment. Remember, books and websites may not be available in accessible formats. Visually impaired students may need more time to do research, or your assistance to identify key texts and materials.
Timed examinations
Here are some suggestions for reasonable adjustments that may be required or recommended for individual students. In your institution, other people (such as the disability officer or the examinations officer) are likely to be responsible for making some of these arrangements. It is useful preparation to find out who does what. Making appropriate arrangements for disabled students in a written examination can require specialist knowledge as it is very important that students’ preferred requirements are fully considered.
A small number of disabled students may be unable to do written examinations. If rest breaks and additional time allowances add up significantly then an alternative form of assessment may be more appropriate. You could consider replacing an unseen exam paper with a seen one, or assessing a student through an additional piece of coursework or a viva, depending on their particular needs.
All students benefit if the following good practice suggestions are taken into account in written examinations.
- Exam questions should be phrased in clear English, using short, unambiguous sentences and direct questions.
- Question papers and any supporting materials should be written using the guidelines for printed materials. Avoid using photocopied materials from newspapers. Old and original source materials that may be difficult to read (e.g. because they are handwritten or because the print is unclear) should be transcribed.
- Provide exam papers, instructions and any supporting materials (e.g. texts in open-book exams) in appropriate alternative formats.
You may come across the following recommendations for disabled students undertaking a written examination, but be aware that not all possible arrangements can be covered here.
Venue
Wherever possible the examination should be held in fully accessible venues – this may be all that is required for a student with certain mobility difficulties, such as a wheelchair user. Some examination arrangements require separate accommodation for the student. This may be in a room with other students who also have different examination arrangements or in an individual room with an invigilator. Students with certain medical conditions may need to do their examination in a room with easy access to a nearby toilet.
Additional time
Students may require an additional time allowance in an examination for a variety of reasons. A student with specific learning difficulties may process ideas more slowly, a deaf student whose first language is BSL may struggle to express themselves in written English, a person with manual dexterity difficulties may write slowly and with difficulty. Where extra time is required for writing, the actual amount of time may depend on the individual student’s needs and whether they are writing by hand or typing. Students with reading difficulties may require extra time for reading the exam papers and any supporting materials as well as reading back and checking their own work.
Rest breaks
Some students may require rest breaks, for example those who experience pain and fatigue or who have difficulties concentrating for long periods. Visually impaired students who experience eyestrain may also need rest breaks. Rest breaks may be scheduled in, for example as ten minutes per hour. Or 'stop the clock' break arrangements can be used to allow the student to get up and walk around, rest, or use the toilet as they need to. This may be a useful strategy for dealing with medical requirements, with anxiety or with pain or fatigue.
Students with some medical conditions may need to take food and drink into the exam room.
Use of specialist equipment
Students may require access to a computer, with or without specialist software, or other equipment in a written examination. Students who are deaf and those with dyslexia may have difficulties constructing answers in written English, and may need access to dictionary and spell checking software. Dyslexic students who use text to speech software to proofread essays may also require access to this in an examination. Blind and visually impaired students and those with manual dexterity difficulties are also likely to need access to the same assistive technologies that they normally use. Some students, particularly those who are blind or have visual impairments, may need to receive the exam paper and any supporting materials in electronic format, so that they can use magnification software or screen reading software with voice output. The use of specialist equipment may in itself require an extra time allowance.
Some students may require access to non-IT equipment in exams. Deaf students and those with specific learning difficulties may reasonably be allowed access to a dictionary or a handheld spellchecker. Visually impaired students may need aids such as additional lighting, a CCTV (for electronic magnification), or writing paper with thick lines. Students who have difficulties using a standard chair and desk could use a back supporting chair or a height adjustable desk or writing slope.
Scribes and readers
Students who have difficulties with the process of writing may require a scribe or amanuensis to write or type to dictation in a written examination. This may include students who have difficulties transferring thoughts to paper, those whose handwriting is illegible due to manual dexterity difficulties or dyspraxia, or those who can only write slowly and with difficulty. Students who are blind or visually impaired are unlikely to be able to hand write and check their written work, and may need a person to act as both scribe and reader. These days, students who may have needed to use a scribe in the past may choose to use assistive technologies instead.
Timetabling
Some disabled students may require their exams to be rescheduled and the practical arrangements for this, such as ‘quarantine’, need to be properly considered. For a variety of reasons, some disabled students may not be able to do morning exams and the exam should be re-scheduled for later in the day. Some students may not be able to tackle two exams on one day. For others, additional time allowances may make it impossible to sit two exams in a day.
Written examinations may be particularly stressful for students with mental health difficulties and it may be agreed that an alternative form of assessment is more suitable. Depending on the student’s individual needs at the time of the examination, arrangements may be made to use a room with a smaller number of students, or an individual room, or to use a known invigilator, or allow the presence of a buddy.
In addition to the general arrangements described earlier, some quite specialist arrangements may be required for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Verbal instructions by the invigilator may need to be given in writing or via a radio aid.
- Exam questions may need to be modified in advance by a specialist or professional who may rephrase them to ensure that their meaning is clear for deaf students.
- A BSL interpreter may be required to sign the exam questions and any supporting written material.
- Examination responses could be signed to video and then transcribed into written English by a BSL interpreter.
- Consider replacing long essay-type examination questions with short answer questions - these may be accompanied by a viva where the student can communicate in BSL with an interpreter who can then voice-over the student’s answer.