SQA – Alternative Assessment Arrangements
Assessment arrangements allow candidates who are disabled, and/or have been identified as having additional support needs, appropriate arrangements to access the assessment without compromising its integrity. As the national awarding body for Scotland, SQA has a responsibility to ensure that assessment leading to certification is rigorous and fair for all candidates, and that it allows candidates to demonstrate the skills, knowledge and understanding required for the qualification.
The four key principles that underpin our assessment arrangements policy focus on the needto remove barriers for disabled candidates to provide them with an equal opportunity to access their assessments.
Principle 1: Assessment arrangements are intended to enable candidates to demonstrate their attainment, not to compensate for lack of attainment.
Principle 2: Assessment arrangement must not compromise the integrity of the qualification.
Principle 3: Assessment arrangements must be tailored to meet a candidate’s individual needs.
Principle 4: Assessment arrangements should reflect, as far as possible, the candidate’s normal way of learning and producing work.
Examples of assessment arrangements:
– Adapted question papers (large print, double line spacing, different colour, etc.)
– Extra time
– Use of ICT or digital question papers
– Prompter (to ensure that a candidate stays on task)
– Reader
– Scribe
Source: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/AssessmentArrangementsExplained.pdf
Find out more:
About assessment arrangements
Digital question papers
Quality assurance
