Guidelines for Requesting Reasonable Adjustments to 11+ Test Materials Or Conditions

Guidelines for Requesting Reasonable Adjustments to 11+ Test Materials or Conditions

1. The Legal Framework

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty upon Local Authorities and schools not to discriminate against disabled people or pupils in their access to education. The relevant provisions of the Equality Act 2010 replace the relevant provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Three aspects of admissions are covered by the duty:

• admission arrangements and rules
• the terms of any offer of a school place
• refusing or deliberately omitting to accept an application for admission to a school by virtue of that person’s disability.

Selection for admission for a grammar school education by way of academic testing is a “permitted form of selection” under the terms of section 28B of the Equality Act 2010, and is in accordance with the Education Act 1996 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. What this means is that – in itself – applying selection at 11+ does not discriminate in relation to disability. Schools and Local Authorities do have a duty, however, to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils in operating a selection process. This duty is anticipatory.

Special arrangements are not offered to enable children to get the highest score they possibly can: they are provided only where the severity of the child’s difficulties means they cannot reasonably be expected to attempt the tests in standard format or under the prescribed conditions.

2. Definitions

The Equality Act 2010 defines a person with a disability as having a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

The Act (and regulations made under the Act) also provide that pupils with cancer, multiple sclerosis or HIV and pupils who are certified as blind, severely sight impaired, sight impaired or partially sighted by a consultant ophthalmologist are to be considered disabled.

Where parents formally advise a teaching member of staff at a school that they believe their

child is disabled, then the school has a responsibility to advise the LA if the child is to sit the 11+ test.

3. Timeline

Summer Term (whilst child is in Year 5)

The LA invites headteachers to identify Year 5 children who have the normal day-to-day delivery of the curriculum adapted to meet their particular needs. If it is known that any of these children intends to take part in PESE 2016 with a view to applying for a grammar school place, the Head and SENCo should consider formally what arrangements may be needed to accommodate them in the context of 11+ assessment. Some children may not need adjustments to testing, but may need to be referred to the Head Teacher Assessment panel if their test scores are below the grammar threshold. Some may require arrangements which do not need permission from the LA but should be formally recorded for the benefit of parents and invigilators. Where the school wishes to request reasonable adjustments, this can be done by completing and returning the “Appendix B” proforma:

1. To confirm the child’s SEN Status.
2. To provide details of the nature of a child’s disability and the evidence to confirm this.
3. If the child is not disabled under the terms of the Act, to clarify why a non-disabled child should be considered for adjustments and to provide evidence to support this.
4. To indicate the support that the child currently receives in school to enable access to the curriculum. Also, to include details of recent assessments relevant to the application, confirming the conditions in which any tests were taken.
5. To suggest reasonable adjustments to enable the pupil to access the 11+ tests. This should normally be based on point 4 above.

On receipt of this information from headteachers, together with supporting evidence from the

other professionals involved with the child, and relevant information such as a current Provision Plan, a Special Access Panel of education professionals will consider cases on an individual basis. Any professional reports provided must be no more than 18 months old, clearly dated and reproduced in full. Where tests have been quoted they must be age appropriate. The only exception to this 18-month time limit is where the report relates to a physical disability or a named medical condition.

The panel will meet to consider whether the child needs special access arrangements in order to be able to take part in a grammar school selection process, and what those arrangements should be.

A request for adjustments received after the published deadlines will not be considered. Requests for adjustments will not be accepted direct from parents: they will be referred to the school so that a formal submission can be made. Neither the PESE manager nor the panel members will enter into further discussion or correspondence once decisions have been made. The Panel is a non-statutory body and decisions are not subject to appeal. Schools retain the right to refer a case to the local Head Teacher panel after the tests if they do not agree with the assessment which results from the test scores. Once school places have been offered parents have the statutory right to appeal against a refusal to admit their child to a school named on their preference form, or – where the child is the subject of a Statement of SEN/ EHC Plan – to the appropriate tribunal.

The LA will advise headteachers prior to the tests what adjustments can be made.

The results from the tests are sent to schools before they are released to parents. At this stage, it is open to a Head Teacher to refer individual cases to a local Head Teacher Assessment panel which will consider additional evidence supplied by the primary school before determining whether or not the assessment based on tests should stand. If no concessions have been offered, this is the school’s opportunity to refer the child’s work together with information about their difficulties so that the assessment based on scores can be reconsidered.

The decisions of the HT Assessment Panels will be sent to schools before assessment letters are sent out to parents. There is no scope to appeal against the assessment decision itself, but parents of mainstream pupils who are not happy with the decision may name one or more grammar schools among their SCAF preferences by 31 October. A grammar school cannot admit a child who has not been assessed suitable for admission, so these applications will be turned down, but parents will then have the statutory right to take an admission appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel.

(Parents of children with SSEN/ EHCP have a separate appeal route, through SENDIST, if they are not happy with the school named for them by February 2016.)

Please ensure that where adjustments are being requested by the school, the parents of the child concerned receive a copy of these guidelines.

4. The Reasonable Adjustment Duty

The LA and schools are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled

pupils are not placed at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with non-disabled pupils.

The following is a list of reasonable adjustments that the LA will consider making available to

a pupil who is sitting the 11+ tests and is considered disabled within the terms of the Act.

This list is by no means exhaustive and the applicability of any given adjustment(s) will

depend on the particular circumstances.

1. Adapting the test materials – question booklets

1. What can be done?– in conjunction with GL Assessment and with the assistance of the Specialist Teaching Service, the LA is willing to consider where it can adjust the ‘look’ of the test materials. Papers can be reproduced at the request of the head/SENCO of the school, on different coloured paper and/or in larger fonts. The availability of any other formats may be possible following discussion with GL Assessment.
2. What evidence will be useful? – Confirmation from the head/SENCO of the normal adjustments undertaken for a child will be relevant as will any up-to-date evidence as to the child’s difficulties e.g. a professional report
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Children with visual difficulties or those for whom black on white is not the best reading combination.
4. Other matters to consider – whether the child needs a larger workspace whilst being tested so that enlarged sheets can be accommodated. Classroom light levels need to be considered, to ensure children with visual difficulties are in a well-lit environment.

2. Adapting the test materials - answer sheets

1. What can be done? – by agreement with GL Assessment the answer sheets can be enlarged and/or photocopied (by the LA or by the school with the LA’s permission) to facilitate a child completing the answer sheet. Enlarged answersheets returned to the LA will be hand marked. Alternatively, the bar coded original can be completed (and scrupulously checked) by school staff before submitting both the original and the copy to the LA for the marking process.
2. What evidence will be useful? – Confirmation from the head/SENCO of the normal adjustments undertaken for a child will be relevant as will any evidence as to the child’s difficulties e.g. a professional report .
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Either: children who have significant problems with manual dexterity – so that they can be reassured that the ‘neatness’ of the answers being marked within the red brackets is not required, or: children who are severely red/green colour blind if they find that they have difficulty in seeing the red sections of answer sheets. The sheet can be enlarged by photocopying on white or coloured paper, in which case all text and boxes will show as black / grey.
4. Other matters to consider – whether the child needs a larger workspace whilst being tested so that enlarged sheets can be accommodated. Classroom light levels need to be considered, to ensure children with visual difficulties are seated in an appropriately-lit environment.

Note: Where adapted papers are produced by copying care should be taken to ensure that

materials are of an appropriate quality.

3. Use of coloured overlays and coloured filter lenses

1. What can be done? – The coloured overlays or filter lenses used by children in class can be used in the testing session without special permission. If the school wishes to copy materials on to paper of a particular tint, permission should be sought.
2. What evidence will be useful? – Any evidence the school holds as to the child’s difficulties e.g. a professional report or diagnosis, and confirmation from the head/SENCO of the normal adjustments undertaken for the child.
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Children who have found benefit in this strategy in normal class sessions.
4. Other matters to consider – whether the child needs a larger workspace whilst being tested. Classroom light levels need to be considered, to ensure children with visual difficulties are in an appropriately-lit environment.

4. Use of an amanuensis / scribe for the multiple-choice tests

1. What can be done? - The child would be tested separately from other children in the class and an amanuensis can, at the child’s direction, complete the answer sheet on their behalf. The amanuensis would normally be the child’s Learning Support Assistant (LSA).
2. What evidence will be useful? – Confirmation from the head/SENCO of the normal adjustments undertaken for a child will be relevant. This provision will be made only for a child who is used to working regularly with an amanuensis in the classroom. The Special Access Panel will also consider any evidence as to the child’s difficulties e.g. a professional report
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Children with a severe motor disability that causes discomfort when writing or with visual difficulties.
4. Other matters to consider – testing the child apart from his cohort is necessary because of the need for conversation. An enlarged answer sheet or the option of marking answers directly on the question paper may provide an alternative solution, or may be an additional help if the child has visual problems. Classroom light levels need to be considered, to ensure children with visual difficulties are in an appropriately-lit environment.

5. Use of a reader/prompter for the multiple-choice tests

1. What can be done? - The child would be tested separately from other children in the class and the reader would read the instructions for the test and each question type to the child – not the questions themselves. The reader would normally be the child’s Learning Support Assistant (LSA).
2. What evidence will be useful? – Confirmation from the head/SENCO of the normal adjustments undertaken for a child. This provision will normally be made only for a child who is used to working regularly with a reader in the classroom. The Special Access panel will also consider any evidence as to the child’s difficulties e.g. a professional report
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Children with a current reading age much lower than their actual age. Use of a prompter may be considered for a child with severe attention difficulties, to ensure that the child keeps on task.
4. Other matters to consider – testing the child apart from his cohort is necessary because the reader will need to speak during the test. A prompter will normally use a prearranged non-verbal signal to remind the child to stay on task (eg: tapping the desk lightly with a pencil).

6. Permission for a break or “stop the clock”breaks during the test

1. What can be done? – The child would be tested separately and one or two short breaks agreed Because of the structure of the tests, rest breaks are best offered between sections if necessary.
2. What evidence will be useful? – Confirmation from the head/SENCO of the normal adjustments undertaken for a child – i.e. that the child needs and uses breaks during class tests - will be relevant as will any evidence as to the child’s difficulties e.g. a professional report.
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Children with physical, motor or visual difficulties that cause the child to suffer from fatigue or other conditions which impair concentration.
4. Other matters to consider – testing the child apart from his cohort will be necessary because of the need for an extended time overall. The child must not be allowed to discuss the test during a rest break.

7. Permission to extend the time allowed for the writing task by up to 25%

1. What can be done? - In appropriate circumstances a child may be allowed up to 25% extra time for the writing task.
2. What evidence will be useful? –Confirmation from the head/SENCO that this is necessary and always permitted for this child for extended writing, plus an indication of free writing speed (wpm) and evidence that the child has a physical/motor or visual difficulty, or is significantly dyslexic or dyspraxic.
3. Who would this be appropriate for? – Children with physical, motor or visual difficulties which affect their writing speed, or who have a specific learning difficulty which means they may take longer to write down their ideas or need to proof-read their work carefully.
4. Other matters to consider – testing the child apart from his cohort would be necessary because of the need for an extended time overall. For some candidates the use of a word-processor / laptop, rest breaks or (where it is normal classroom practice) a scribe may be a more suitable way to address the difficulty.

8. Permission to extend the time allowed for one or more of the sub-tests.

1. What can be done? - In exceptional circumstances a child may be allowed up to 25% extra time for one or more of the sub-tests.
2. What evidence will be useful? –Confirmation from the head/SENCO that this is necessary and always permitted for this child in tests (including timed multiple-choice tests) plus clear professional evidence as to the impact of the child’s disability in relation to the test format.
3. Who would this be appropriate for?– Primarily, children with significant physical, motor or visual difficulties.A case for a child with significant specific learning difficulties will also be considered, but as the tests are designed to be accessible to most candidates and test results can be reviewed before an assessment is confirmed, extra time is not often agreed.
4. Other matters to consider – testing the child apart from his cohort would be necessary because of the need for an extended time overall. For some candidates other adjustments, such as working through a scribe or recording the answers directly on to the paper may be a more suitable way to address the difficulty.

9. Other reasonable adjustments

Requests for any other reasonable adjustments will be considered in the light of the supporting information provided by the headteacher and other professionals involved with the child. Where a child has multiple needs or is severely disabled, the panel may agree a number of adjustments or dispense them from testing altogether.

If insufficient good, current evidence is sent the panel cannot agree a concession.