General Certificate of Secondary Education - Special Educational Needs

Special Educational Needs

For students with learning difficulties, an injury/repetitive strain injury (RSI) or a disability, help is offered in these forms:

• Extra time (the amount depends on the severity of the learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, disability, injury or learning in English as a second language provided that the student has been studying in the UK for not more than 2 years)
• Amanuensis (somebody types or handwrites as the student dictates; this is normally used when the student cannot write due to an injury or disability)
• A word processor (without any spell checking tools) can be used by students who have trouble writing legibly or who are unable to write quickly enough to complete the exam
• A different format exam paper (large print, Braille, printed on coloured paper, etc.)
• A 'reader' (a teacher/exam invigilator can read out the words written on the exam, but they cannot explain their meaning)
• A different room (sometimes due to a disability a student can be placed in a room by themselves or with selected others; this also happens when an amanuensis is used, so as not to disturb the other candidates. All exam rooms are covered by separate dedicated invigilators.)

All of the above must be approved by the exam board concerned. There are other forms of help available, but these are the most commonly used.

Students working below GCSE level may take a different qualification altogether in one or more subjects. The Entry Level Certificate, in particular, is designed for this purpose. There are also other qualifications which can be taken such as Btecs at level 1 and above.