The regulation of public examinations in England is the responsibility of Ofqual. Ofqual requires awarding bodies to provide examination papers in appropriate formats to ensure candidates with disabilities have access to examinations.
It is the responsibility of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to coordinate these formats on behalf of the awarding bodies.
Details of these formats are published in the JCQ guidance “Regulations and Guidance Relating to Candidates who are Eligible for Adjustments in Examinations”. This guidance is available online at
http://www.jcq.org.uk.
The following table sets out how many times these formats have been approved for children with (a) (i) visual and (ii) hearing impairment and (b) who are dyslexic in the last three years.
Number of requests approved for: 2005 2006 2007 Reader 55,640 67,390 80,798 Scribe (including voice-activated computer) 28,324 34,821 40,275 Computer/word processor 14,222 16,996 21,713 Extra time (more than 25 per cent. extra time) 3,383 2,393 2,489 Alternative venue 1,582 1,948 1,993 Use of signer 942 613 952 Practical assistant 814 953 1,049 Notes: 1. These figures cover AQA, Edexcel and OCR only; the three awarding bodies based in England. 2. These figures are for the number of awarding-body approved arrangements rather than the number of candidates. An individual candidate may require a number of arrangements for each examination they take and they may take examinations from more than one awarding body.