Exam access arrangements in the UK: what you can ask for

What are exam access arrangements?

Exam access arrangements are changes to how you sit an exam, agreed before the day, so that a disability or learning difficulty does not stop you showing what you know. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which sets the rules for GCSEs, A levels and most other school and college qualifications, describes them as adjustments made before exams, based on evidence of need and how a student normally works.

They do not change what is being tested. They change how you get to the questions or how you write the answers. Special consideration is a different thing: it adjusts marks after an exam for someone affected by illness or injury at the time, and you cannot use it in place of an arrangement.

This guide covers JCQ qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland is covered further down. Rules and deadlines change each year, so use this as a map and take the detail from your school.

Who decides, and what do you have to do?

Your school or college decides, through its special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo), and you start by asking them. The exam boards and JCQ talk only to the centre, never to parents or candidates.

The test the SENCo applies is whether you have an impairment with a substantial and long-term effect, and whether the arrangement matches your normal way of working. JCQ's phrase for that is the "normal way of working", and it is the part people most often miss. If you have never used extra time in internal tests or mocks, it is not your normal way of working, and the SENCo may withdraw it. You also need to have practised any equipment, such as a computer reader, scribe or word processor, before the first exam.

Some arrangements need an online application to the exam board through Access Arrangements Online. Others the centre can allow on its own say-so. A centre must not charge a disabled candidate a fee for a reasonable adjustment.

What can you ask for?

The main options sit in two groups: the ones that usually need evidence and an online application, and the ones the centre can simply allow.

How does 25% extra time work?

It needs strong evidence, and it is the one most schools check hardest. For a learning difficulty, the SENCo needs either a current EHC plan (England), statement (Northern Ireland) or Individual Development Plan (Wales), backed by the school's own evidence, or a fully completed Form 8 with an assessment done no earlier than the start of Year 9.

The assessment has to show at least two below-average scores of 84 or less in two different areas of speed of working, or one score of 84 or less and one of 85 to 89. Two scores of 85 to 89 count as exceptional and go to the exam board for a decision. For applications processed from 1 September 2025, JCQ also wants samples of your internal tests and teacher comments on why you need the time and how you use it. Comments from parents cannot go on the form. Extra time is not given where literacy difficulties come mainly from English not being your first language.

Are supervised rest breaks easier to get?

Often, yes, and JCQ says they can be a better fit than extra time for some people. Its guidance says that where an impairment is not a learning difficulty, the SENCo should consider rest breaks before applying for 25% extra time, and that breaks may suit candidates with anxiety or attention difficulties, naming ADHD and autism among them.

The clock stops during the break, you cannot see the paper, and the break is not thinking time. One break is normally no more than 30 minutes, often shorter, and there is not normally one in the first 10 minutes. The SENCo decides how many and how long. There is no online application for breaks, but for GCSE and A level the SENCo must put a statement on Form 8 or Form 9.

Can you use a reading pen in an exam?

Yes, if the centre allows it and the pen meets the rules. JCQ says an exam reading pen must not have an in-built dictionary, thesaurus or data storage, and that the centre provides it. That is why the C-Pen Exam Reader 2 exists as a separate model from the C-Pen Reader 2: the exam version has those features switched off, according to retailers. Check with the SENCo which pen the school will use before you spend anything.

JCQ says a pen should always be considered for candidates who need only occasional words or phrases read. A candidate with a pen cannot also be given up to 50% extra time in place of a reader.

What about overlays, fidget toys and noise?

Each is a decision the centre can make without applying to the exam board. JCQ lists coloured overlays (including reading rulers), fidget toys and stress balls, a desk timer, a blank sheet for doodling for persistent concentration difficulties, squared paper, and non-electronic ear defenders, ear plugs or headphones. The desk timer can be a small countdown clock, a digital timer, a sand timer or a stopwatch, and you must control it yourself.

On a separate room, JCQ is blunt: nervousness, low-level anxiety or worry about exams is not enough. The difficulty must be established in the school and known to staff, and the room must match what you already do in tests.

When do you need to ask?

Ask early. JCQ says arrangements can cover the whole course, and schools should be able to apply at the start of a two-year GCSE course. For the June 2027 series, the final deadline for modified papers is 31 January 2027, and for all other arrangements it is 21 March 2027. Late applications are allowed for a new diagnosis or a temporary injury, but may be examined more closely.

What about Scotland?

SQA runs Scottish qualifications and has its own assessment arrangements, decided candidate by candidate. We could not find deadlines or an evidence list on SQA's public page, so ask your school's SQA co-ordinator, or contact SQA on 0345 279 1000.

Things to know

• The guidance is updated each year. The edition we read was updated in March 2026 and says it applies during 2026/27. Check the current JCQ document with your SENCo.
• Nothing here is legal advice. If a school refuses an arrangement and you think it is wrong, ask the SENCo for the reasons in writing and read the JCQ document they are working from.
• We have not tested the products. The prices and details come from the makers' pages and our product list, and no product is a way of getting an arrangement approved.