Author: | Alistair Gourlay |
Date of Publication: | October 2016 |
Revised | October 2020 (FH) |
Date of next review | August 2021 |
York Learning is committed to providing equal rights, equal opportunities and mutual respect for everyone with whom the Service has contact. We recognise that people may be disadvantaged through a range of circumstances and we will actively work to engage with all our employees and learners to understand, reduce and make appropriate adjustments for this disadvantage to enable the learner to access their learning. (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy)
We have put in place the necessary systems and procedures to allow the provision of access arrangements, including reasonable adjustments. These should reflect the needs of individual learners and must also ensure that the assessment enables a valid, reliable and consistent judgement to be made about access to and achievement of learning outcomes against the stated assessment criteria.
York Learning Assessment Policy Statement outlines our full commitment and expectations of both tutors and learners. We believe all learners are entitled to receive assessment that is fair, rigorous, regular and appropriate to the learning needs of the individual and requirements of the course.
York Learning Admissions Policy outlines our values and that we seek to recruit students from a diverse student community. We are committed to promoting equal opportunities for all students, recognising that our provision is enriched by a diverse student body that is reflective of the wider community. We welcome applications from motivated individuals from all backgrounds. We recognise that student potential is not always demonstrated merely by formal academic qualifications and are happy to accept home and international applicants and those from backgrounds that are under-represented within post-16 education.
Access arrangements allow learners to show what they know, and can do, without changing the demands of the assessment. We aim to ensure that all learners who have additional reasonable requirements are not substantially disadvantaged by the difficulties they may have in relation to:
For example we can arrange additional time, or the use of coloured overlays on question papers, scribes and readers or the presence of a support worker where anxiety is an issue. Access arrangements are discussed and agreed before an assessment and allow a learner with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access the assessment. Staff carrying out assessments are skilled at exploring and suggesting reasonable adjustments where these have not been previously identified by the individual.
Where individual or service delivery circumstances necessitate assessments taking place online, York Learning will ensure that the learner has received details in advance of the assessment and has been given the offer of support to access the assessment where required.
All tutors and learners are made aware of the existence of this policy at recruitment and it can be found on the service website www.yorklearning.org.uk.
Learners will be provided with the opportunity to disclose and discuss support requirements with tutors and support staff in a confidential setting at any time. Application is made via our learner support needs application form in a process of self referral or at:
Special consideration is a post-examination adjustment to a candidate’s mark or grade to reflect temporary illness, temporary injury or other indisposition at the time of the assessment. This may have had, or is reasonably likely to have had, a material effect on a candidate’s ability to take an assessment or demonstrate his or her normal level of attainment in an assessment. Special considerations are dealt with in line with the individual awarding body and JCQ policies.
Special consideration can only seek to go some way to assist a candidate affected by a potentially wide range of difficulties, emotional or physical, which may influence performance in examinations. It cannot remove the difficulty faced by the candidate. There will be situations where candidates should not be entered for an examination. Only minor adjustments can be made to the mark awarded because to do more than this would jeopardize the standard of the examination.
Special consideration can be applied after an assessment if there was a reason the learner may have been disadvantaged during the assessment.
For example, special consideration could apply to a learner who has temporarily experienced:
and which has had, or is likely to have had, a material effect on that learner’s ability to take an assessment or demonstrate his or her level of attainment in an assessment.
Special consideration should not give the learner an unfair advantage, nor should its use cause the user of the certificate to be misled regarding a learner’s achievements. The learner’s result must reflect his/her achievement in the assessment and not necessarily his/her potential ability. If successful, special consideration may result in a small post-assessment adjustment to the mark of the learner. The size of the adjustment will depend on the circumstances and reflect the difficulty faced by the learner.
As Training Providers we also have to take into consideration due to certain exam board restrictions that:-
You have the right to appeal a decision made by York Learning. If you wish to appeal please refer to the Appeals Procedure Policy.
We review this policy annually as part of our quality process and revise as and when necessary in response to our learner feedback, changes in our practices, actions from the regulatory authorities or external agencies or changes in legislation.
York Learning will provide a learner with a word processor with the spelling and grammar check facility/ predictive text switched off. To use a word processor will need to be the learner’s normal way of working. York Learning follows the criteria below when allowing a learner to use a word processor in an exam:
A word processing cover sheet (JCQ/WP Form 4) will be completed for each learner. Below are York Learning requirements relating to the use of a computer in exam assessment. If you are granted the use of a computer to write your exams, the examination team will inform you of this decision who will also arrange a suitable room where computers will be subject to availability.
All examinations taking place using computers must comply with the usual “Notice to Candidates and Examinations Rules”
The computer used for examinations must be set up according to the following rules:
The centre should remind learners to ensure that their candidate number, the paper code and title, and the respective question number appear on each page of answers.
The learner’s name must not appear on any part of the printed document.
The electronic file containing the exam answers must be saved immediately and passed to the invigilator or supervisor.
The provided examination answer book cover should be completed according to the instructions and must include the candidate number (but NOT their name).
A copy of the examination answers should be printed and all pages, including any rough work, should be inserted inside the examination answer book and secured together with string.
The standard York Learning exam form and the attendance sheet must also be completed by the invigilator or supervisor and returned with the answer book to the Exam Officer.
If applicable, please retain an electronic copy of the candidate’s script until the Exam’s Officer has confirmed safe receipt of the answer book by email.