Exams and assessments

 

If you experience higher levels of stress and anxiety around times of exams and assessments, then you are not alone.  It is a completely normal and understandable response.  

It is however, very important for you as a young people with SEND to express your worries and make yourself heard so that the right support can be put in place for you.

 

 

What support might you need?

Support could include stress management strategies such as relaxation techniques, mindfulness exercises and time management skills. 

 

To access this exam guide for students on managing stress from the Charlie Waller Trust please click on the following link:

Charlie Waller : Guide: Managing your mental health during exams

 

This resource from the Mental Health Foundation also has advice on managing exams:

MHF : managing exams : young people

 

Other support could include a discussion with the SENCo or your teacher as to whether access arrangements are needed.

Exam access arrangements are the reasonable adjustments that can be made for students with SEND to make exams easier to access so they are not put at a big disadvantage compared to other students.  

 

Do you need access arrangements?

If you previously had access arrangements in place for GCSEs, then it is likely that access arrangements may also be needed for Post-16 assessments such as A levels too, unless your needs have changed a lot and there is no longer a need for them.

If you are attending a different educational setting for Post-16 such as a college, it would be helpful to make the staff aware of your normal way of working as soon as you start.  For example if you have to use a laptop in lessons and exams or if you were given extra time in assessments and exams for your GCSEs.  These are known as access arrangements.

To make sure that access arrangements are in place for Post-16 (if they are still needed) then you could ask your Post-16 placement to contact your previous school for a copy of the access arrangements that were put in place for GCSE.  

 

Things you need to know about access arrangements...

If you require access arrangements it is important that:

• your Post-16 provider applies for and confirms access arrangements in good time so that you know exactly what reasonable adjustments and support you will receive in each exam.
• you know how best to use your access arrangements. For example, there is little point in you having extra time in their exam if you don’t know how to use it effectively.
• you have the opportunity to practise using your access arrangements under exam conditions as well as in the less pressured classroom environment.