Reasonable Adjustments

'Reasonable adjustments' is the term we use for any special arrangement that is needed to enable disabled or temporarily incapacitated candidates to do their best in an assessment. Examples of reasonable adjustments are:

- Extra time for a dyslexic candidate
- Rest breaks for a candidate with a spinal injury
- A scribe (someone to write) for a candidate with a broken wrist.

A document developed by the AAT, called Guidance on the Application of Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration in AAT Assessments sets out our new policies in this area. The document was developed from a template document issued by the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) of which AAT is a member; we also contributed to the base document. You can see the finished AAT document here: 

 RASC guidelines - October 2008

The key policy change for students and Approved Assessment Centres is that, in most cases, and up to a certain level (see permissions table in the document) the decision on granting reasonable adjustments, and the responsibility for collection and storage of the supporting evidence, passes from AAT to the centres. This key policy change gives the following advantages, amongst others:

- Centres are much better acquainted with their students and their needs than we are.

- Later applications for reasonable adjustments will be possible because a layer of administration is removed in most typical cases.

Students with permanent conditions who have reasonable adjustments already in place will continue to receive their agreed adjustments.