Disabled students may be recommended adjustments and support in exams and in-class tests to ensure parity of assessment with non-disabled peers. This chapter provides support and guidance on how to implement some of the more widely used adjustments for exams and in-class tests. Please be aware that adjustments should be applied to all mock exams in addition to in-class tests and exams.
General Information:
All exam adjustments in each Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP) should be put in place for online and on-campus exams and in-class tests. The only exception to this is where a student has a long period of time (e.g. 24 or 48 hours) to complete an exam that would usually take e.g. 3 hours. There are further details about this below.
This document highlights some of the most common adjustments, but if you are unsure how to implement an adjustment, please contact disability@hud.ac.uk.
Please be aware that any changes to the exam adjustments need to be reviewed and made by Advisers in Disability Services in order to ensure that all adjustments are appropriate and applied fairly to all students. Please ask all students requesting any changes to their exam adjustments to make contact with Disability Services to discuss this. If you have any queries around changing the exam recommendations for a specific student, please get in touch disability@hud.ac.uk
Further information about exam support for disabled students is available on the Disability Services website.
Exam Dates and Deadlines to Note for January and Spring Exam Periods:
January Exams 2026 | May Exams 2026 | Resit Exams 2026 | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 4 Dec 2025 | Mon 23 March 2026 | Thu 25 June 2026 | Deadline for all students to review existing exam support or request exam support. Students must submit supporting information by this date to Disability Services and complete a Disability Services Registration Form. |
| Thu 9 Dec 2025 | Fri 27 March 2026 | Fri 26 June 2026 | Deadline for all Personal Learning Support Plans to be in place for disabled students’ exam requirements. |
Informing Disabled Students about exam and in class test adjustments:
For the main exam periods in January and May and for the corresponding re-sit periods, all students receive an initial email about the exam timetable, directing them to a Registry web page where they can view the dates of the exams. This email includes information about what to do if you have exam adjustments recommended in a Personal Learning Support Plan and you wish to review or change the recommendations. The email also details the process if a student feels they require exam adjustments but they have not yet linked with Disability Services. There is a deadline for students for reviewing existing exam adjustments or putting adjustments in place. Please see section above for the deadline for this academic year.
Closer to the exam period, all students receive a further email with their individual timetable requirements. Students with a PLSP will have their exam adjustments outlines in this email. They are advised to reply to the email as soon as possible if the adjustments are not correct
Information Required When Requesting a Support Worker for on Campus and Online Exams and In Class Tests:
Exams
If a student requires a Support Worker during the January or Mat exam periods or the corresponding re-sit periods, the Course Administration and Operations Team within Registry and Academic Development will work alongside Disability Services to put this in place.
In-Class Tests (ICT)
The Module Leader responsible for the In-Class Test should contact Learning Support at least seven working days ahead of the ICT to confirm that a student requires the Support Worker they have been recommended in the PLSP for online and on campus in-class tests. Please email learning.support@hud.ac.uk to make the request and you will be sent a MS Form to complete with the essential details about the in-class test (date, location, start and finish times etc.)
On-Campus In-Class tests with Support Workers present
If a student is recommended a reader, an amanuensis (scribe) and/or a prompter, they will require a separate room in which to work with their support worker. The size and layout of the room should ensure sufficient space for the student, support worker and the invigilator.
Online In-Class Tests
Please note: any student who has an amanuensis, reader or prompter in their PLSP should be offered this support, even if the online assessment is typed rather than handwritten.
Disability Services will arrange for the student and the support worker to meet via MS Teams to undertake an online in-class test.
Disability Services understands that online assessments do not require invigilation. However, if this is not the case, the platform used for the in-class test will need to enable a support worker to be present in addition to the invigilation.
If the student has an online exam or in-class test and can undertake the assessment at any time within a given time frame (e.g. the exam/test is expected to take 3 hours to complete but can be done within a 24 hour period), Disability Services will contact the student to arrange the exact times when a support worker is required.
Please let Disability Services know the time a student is expected to need to undertake the exam or test.
The In-Class test ‘answer sheet’ needs to be available in a format that can be downloaded and shared via MS Teams e.g. a Word document. In-Class Test documents hosted solely on Brightspace cannot be shared with the Support Worker.
Accessing the Personal Learning Support Plan:
Please log into My Students or e-Vision and click on ‘Disability Services’ in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen.
Click on the PLSP Seach button in the Personal Learning Support Plan section.
To search for all students with a PLSP in a specific module, put the module code into the module section of the selection criteria and click confirm:
This will produce a list of all students in that module with a PLSP.
Creating Accessible Documents for Use in Remote Exams or In-Class Tests:
To support all students to access an electronic written assessment or examination, it is helpful to make the document as accessible as possible. There are several approaches to this.
- If you are uploading a document to Brightspace, you can use the digital accessibility tool called Ally. This will rate the accessibility of your document and provide you with a button you can click, which will indicate the ways in which you can improve the accessibility of your document. See more information about using Ally.
- If you are creating a document in Word or PowerPoint, click on the Check Accessibility tool in the Review menu, which will provide hints and tips about making your document accessible.
- Fonts such as Arial are easier to read for many students as they do not have serifs. Font size 12 is also recommended as the standard.
- Please ensure the contrast of the text and background on your document is distinct so that the document can be read more easily. You can do this using several websites including the WebAIM: Contrast Checker.
- If you left justify your text and leave the right side jagged, this supports students with specific learning difficulties to track the text more easily and not skip lines, particularly on long blocks of text.
- Please avoid underlining text ( except for web links ) or using italics or capitals for whole words or sentences. This changes the shape and appearance of words which may be relied upon by people with a visual impairment or a specific learning difficulty when reading.
Additional Time:
If a student has been recommended additional time for an online assessment, this will need to be put in place when the exam or in-class test is set up on Brightspace. This includes assessments which can be undertaken at any time within a given period, but once the test starts, there is a limited amount of time in which it can be completed. E.g. Students can take the exam within a 24-hour window, but once they start the exam, the time allowed is limited to 3 hours.
Please ensure it is made clear to students ahead of the exam or in-class test that they have been awarded the additional time.
Where it is not necessary to incorporate additional time is where students have significantly longer than is required to complete the exam. E.g. Students have 24 hours in which to complete an assessment which is estimated to take 3 hours. A student with 25% additional time, can incorporate the extra 45 minutes into their production of the assessment during the 24-hour window.
Where a student is taking an exam or in-class test on campus, their additional time will need to be awarded and provision made for the student to sit their exam in a room with other students who have the same additional time (so the start and end times of the exam are the same for all candidates in the room).
Rest Breaks:
Wherever possible, rest breaks will be incorporated into any additional time recommended in the Personal Learning Support Plan.
Where rest breaks have been recommended separately and with the clock stopped in the Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP), please liaise with the student to identify the length and frequency of the rest breaks and add the agreed additional time to the length of the exam or in-class test. Disability Services suggests up to 15 minutes for each hour, but this may vary depending on the requirement. Disability Services can be consulted for advice and guidance on what might be considered a reasonable amount of time if necessary.
The length of an online exam or in-class test should be altered to reflect the additional time when it is set up in Brightspace by the Academic School.
It is not necessary to incorporate rest breaks for exams or in-class tests that are expected to take e.g. 3 hours but the student has 24 hours in which to complete the assessment.
Where a student is on campus for an exam or in-class test, and they need to stand up and mobilise during their rest break, the student requires adequate space in which to do this, whilst remaining in view of the invigilator. Where this is the case, they will be recommended a separate room, so they do not disrupt other students.
Use of a Computer:
Where the use of a computer has been recommended in the Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP), this provision will need to be made available to students taking exams or in-class tests on campus. Please follow the guidance in the PLSP about setting up the computer ahead of time.
For in-class tests, students who require the use of a computer should be scheduled into any available PC labs in the first instance. If the number of students who require a computer exceeds the number available in PC labs, please approach IT Services to request the use of laptops. It is essential to be clear that the laptops are for use in an in-class test and IT Support will require as much notice as possible. Please also specify any other requirements, for example if the student should not be granted access to the internet during the in-class test, if they require access to text to speech software, if they require access to course-related software etc.
Please note, all students with the use of a computer and the same additional time may be scheduled into one room, unless they have further adjustments which necessitate a separate room or unless otherwise stated in the PLSP. If provision of headsets is available, all students who have the use of a computer and access to text to speech software can be in the same room.
Separate Rooms:
Where there is a recommendation for a separate room, this means provision of an individual exam room just for the student, their invigilator and where relevant, their Exam Support Worker.
Please ensure the size of the room allows space for the student, invigilator and where required, the support worker.
Please ensure the separate room is a suitable and quiet space.
Please consider issues such as natural or good lighting levels and for example, not positioning rooms next door to toilets where the use of hand dryers could disturb exams.
Please ask invigilators to ensure that students leaving exam rooms and passing by the separate rooms keep noise levels down to avoid disruption for disabled students.
Where there is a recommendation for a room with limited distraction, students can be scheduled in a room with a small number of other students, where they can be spaced far apart. The number of students in the space will depend on the size of the room, but for guidance, Disability Services recommend no more than 8 students in a room when distractions should be reduced.
Use of Text to Speech Software
Students who require the use of text to speech software, can be in the same exam room if they all have access to a headset to listen to the text and their other exam adjustments do not necessitate a separate room.
Microsoft Edge is the preferred option for enabling text to be read aloud and is available on all Windows computers.
Students can use the read-aloud function in Microsoft Edge to listen to the text. They do this by clicking on the text where they would like the read-aloud to start, right-clicking and selecting read-aloud from here. There is more information in the Brightspace HudStudy Assistive Technology Support site.
When enabling text to speech:
- It is vital that the right-click button is not disabled for students who require this read-aloud function.
- It is vital that any document which is read aloud is in an order that can be detected by the screen reader. Support with this is available through Ally in Brightspace and the Check Accessibility tool in Word and PowerPoint. As a rule, ensure that the headings tools are used in text documents and the pre-prepared slides, tables are used in PowerPoint and text boxes are avoided.
Any images or pictures used in the exam document may need to have a description so they can be read aloud. Right-click on the image and click the Edit Alt text box to add a short 1 to 2 sentence description of the image. There are some exemptions in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) guidelines for when images are not required to have a text alternative – for example, if the provision of a description would invalidate the test. See this section of the WCAG Guidelines to find out more about the exemptions
There is more information in this HudStudy Guide about making Brightspace quizzes more accessible.
Use of Speech-to-Text software:
Where speech-to-text software is recommended, students will require a separate room and 25% additional time, unless specified differently on their PLSP. A separate invigilator will also be required to ensure the integrity of the exam.
Wherever possible, Disability Services recommends the use of speech-to-text tools in Microsoft 365. Students will require the use of a computer or laptop with the dictate function in Microsoft Word. It is recommended that the exam document is set up and already saved prior to the beginning of the exam, so the student can dictate straightaway once the exam has started.
There is further information about the use of speech to text tools in the Brightspace HudStudy Assistive Technology Support site.
In very exceptional circumstances where students are very reliant on Dragon dictation software, this can be considered, and Disability Services can be consulted for support in making this decision. Dragon software can be programmed to type a pre-determined piece of text using a short voice command, therefore it is vital that the invigilator can confirm that this has not happened during the exam, to ensure integrity of the exam.
Alternative Format:
Students may require exam or in-class test documents in an alternative format such as large print or on a coloured background. Where exams or in-class tests are taking place on campus, the assessment document should be provided in the appropriate format.
Magnification:
If the assessment document for online exams or in-class tests is fully accessible, the student will be able to use their own magnification software (such as SuperNova or ZoomText) or they can use built-in tools to enlarge the screen.
There is more information about magnifying a screen on the Brightspace HudStudy Assistive Technology Support site.
Changing the background colour:
Tools such as the immersive reader in Office 365 enable students to change the background colour of the document, re-space the text or focus in on specific lines to better track the text.
If you are producing exam or in-class test documents that are made available on platforms where they may not be fully accessible, it is advisable to have an original in an accessible Word format which can be supplied to a student if necessary.
Support Workers- Role Description for Readers, Amanuensis (Scribes), and Prompters:
Please note, the following guidelines are provided for students supported by an Amanuensis (Scribe), Reader and prompter:
An amanuensis may be arranged by the University to transcribe the answers of any candidate who is unable to write, or who has difficulty in producing text or diagrams. A reader may be provided for students who require information read aloud either from the exam paper or their answer script. A prompter can give pre-arranged prompts to a student throughout the exam to keep them focused on the task. (Please note, the prompts are not related to the content of an exam or in-class test.)
Some students may have recommendations for an amanuensis, a reader and/or a prompt. If they require more than one role, this will be detailed in the Personal Learning Support Plan and these can be carried out by one Support Worker.
Amanuensis, Reader and prompter General Information:
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The use of an Amanuensis, Reader or Prompter will entitle the student to extra time (usually 25%) in an examination or in-class test.
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The Amanuensis, Reader or prompter may take breaks and will agree with the student ahead of the exam or in-class test how this will be arranged.
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Students may provide the Amanuensis or Reader with a list of subject-specific terminology or names prior to the exam or in-class test (where this does not compromise the competence standards).
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The student and the exam support worker will have be encouraged to have a practice session and/or a discussion prior to the start of the examination a discussion prior to the start of the exam or in-class test to agree on how to provide and manage the support.
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During the exam or in-class test, the Amanuensis, Reader or prompter may not provide any factual help or indicate by any word or action that the student has made a mistake.
Reader:
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The Reader may be asked to read aloud what has been written and/or the instructions and questions from the paper. The Reader may read aloud the student’s exam script.
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The Reader must read the text exactly. They cannot correct any errors; it is the student’s responsibility to correct any errors.
Amanuensis:
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The Amanuensis must write exactly what the student dictates.
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The Amanuensis may ask a student to repeat what they have said or to slow their pace if necessary.
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The student may wish to complete sections of the paper themselves. Any sections written by an amanuensis should have ‘by Amanuensis’ written at the start and end of the section.
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If a problem occurs with a PC or laptop, the amanuensis can continue with a hand-written transcription (when the exam or in-class test is in-person) and inform the invigilator. This should be detailed in the Declaration of True Record form.
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At the end of the examination or in-class test where this is online, the Amanuensis is responsible for saving the script, with the student’s name and number and then emailing the script to the student. It is the student’s responsibility to upload the document to Turnitin or Brightspace.
Prompter:
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The Prompter may give pre-arranged prompts to the student throughout the exam or in class-test. For example, they may give the student a prompt at 30-minute intervals, a prompt to move on to the next question or a prompt to keep their attention focused on the exam paper.
The support worker and student will be asked to sign a Declaration of True Record at the end of the exam or in-class test, confirming that the information written by an amanuensis is a true record of what the student said and also detailing any other issues that may have been experienced such as IT problems etc. This will be retained by the Disability Service.
