Glossary Guide to Reasonable Adjustments

Where your lecture materials are not routinely provided in advance, in an accessible, electronic format on Canvas, you will be provided with a copy of the PowerPoint slides, at least 24 hours in advance of your class taking place. 

Students with this adjustment can audio-record lectures with recording equipment or your smartphone. You will be asked to sign a ‘Permission to make audio recordings of lectures’ form before you start recording lectures. This states that you understand that the recordings will only be used for personal study and that using them for other purposes could constitute a breach of copyright legislation. This adjustment will be added to your record so that lecturers can see you have permission to record their class.

For every hour that your exam lasts, you will receive extra minutes of reading and writing time. The amount of extra time that you receive will be stipulated in your adjustments and this will be added onto the end of your exam. Extra time adjustments can include:

• 15 minutes extra per hour
• 20 minutes extra per hour
• 30 minutes extra per hour

For example, if you have an exam that is due to last two hours, and you have 15 minutes extra per hour as an adjustment, you will have two hours and 30 minutes to complete your exam.

This adjustment is for students who may struggle with elements of spelling and grammar. It lets teaching staff know that although students will have access to spelling and grammar checkers, where there is a small percentage of spelling errors, students should not be marked down for this. 

This adjustment will cover students for coursework submissions, typed and handwritten exams (unless presentation is one of the learning outcomes).

This adjustment will allow you to have use of a PC for exams and/or class tests. Students with this adjustment are usually placed in a PC lab with other students who are sitting an assessment at the same time. Students will have access to Microsoft Word to type their exam answers and will have use of spell check features within this.

Students who have use of a PC will also receive a paper exam book so that if there are graphs to draw or any maths work to do in the exam which can’t be completed on the PC, you can use the paper book to write these answers.

A reader is someone who would sit in an exam or class test and read out any questions as many times as the student requires. They can also read out any exam answers that the student asks of them.

Students who have this adjustment will also require a separate room and the reader will also act as an invigilator. Your reader will be arranged by the Exams Team.

A scribe is someone who would sit in an exam or class test and write or type exam answers for a student as required.

Students who have this adjustment will also require a separate room and the scribe will also act as an invigilator. Your scribe will be arranged by the Exams Team.

Some students require both a reader and scribe. This would be just one person who would act as a reader, scribe and invigilator and perform the above roles of reader and scribe.

A prompter will help keep a student on track if distracted and can provide prompts regarding time.

Students with this adjustment will have their own room to sit in for exams and/or class tests. There will also be an invigilator who will be sitting in the room during assessments with you. The Exams Team will arrange a room for you to sit assessments.

Use of a quieter room means that students will sit in a room with a maximum of around 20 students. The Exams Team will advise of the locations for the quieter room for exams.

A student may have difficulty reading or writing on a white background; therefore, they can arrange to have coloured paper for exams and class tests. The choice of colours can be discussed with your Disability Advisor.

Having a Personal Care Plan adjustment is used to highlight that the student has a medical condition or disability which may need first aid/evacuation support. PCP is kept within Health and Safety Services database, Shield. In the event of an emergency or first aid requirement, contact Safeguarding Services on ext. 2222, via a red phone or use SafeZone app.

Students with this adjustment have a learning profile due to their more complex support needs. This will be attached to the student’s record on FSS to be viewed by academics.

This means that the student is prone to seizures. There will be a learning profile and/or personal care plan for this student, we advise academics to familiarise themselves with steps to be taken in an emergency.

There are many other adjustments that we can implement to support you with coursework and exams, which are not listed on this glossary page. If you would like to discuss adjustments, then please get in touch with your Disability Advisor.