Exam adjustments procedure

The College’s adjustment procedure (in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) provides a formal means for candidates to submit a request for an adjustment to be applied in examinations to compensate for disability. All adjustment requests will be considered by the College in a fair and consistent way.

Any candidate seeking to request an adjustment must send the relevant documentation to the Examinations Office, after they have submitted their application online. This must be received on or in advance of the examination closing date to allow proper consideration to be given and logistical arrangements looked into.

The College is aware that an adjustment can take many forms. For example, a candidate with a hearing impediment may need examiners to sit on a particular side during an oral examination or someone with mobility issues may need to be examined in a ground floor room. In cases such as these, the Examinations Office can make the necessary arrangements on the basis of the letter sent with the application form. No additional medical letters are required.

In cases such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia for example where a candidate is requesting additional time, their correspondence must contain a description of the disability and specific information on the adjustment/s requested. It must be accompanied by corroborating evidence from an appropriate medical practitioner (GP/Consultant) or a chartered educational psychologist and it must specify the amount of additional time the expert believes should be applied to put the candidate on an equitable footing to other candidates. It is important that the expert advises the College what  adjustments are required and reasonable in order that the candidate is not disadvantaged in terms of not be  able to demonstrate their competence in the examination.

All adjustment requests are considered by the Examinations Manager in the first instance.More complex requests are also considered by the Head of Specialty Training and the Medical Director, Education and Training.

Once a request has been considered, the decision is conveyed to the candidate via the Examinations Office. If an adjustment has been granted, the candidate must advise this on all future online applications in order that the adjustment can be applied to any subsequent
sitting.

Simple adjustments are conveyed to the examiners, invigilators and examination venues and the appropriate arrangements made. Candidates with additional time allowances must attempt the examination in a separate room to other candidates, as not to be disturbed when other candidates finish the examination and leave the room.

Where possible, candidates will be placed at their first choice venue, however, in some cases external venues cannot accommodate additional time candidates (where it is simply a large hall with no smaller rooms available, for example) and in this case the candidate will be offered to sit the examination at another venue, or the College.