Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations Policy

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Purpose

This policy is aimed at our Approved Training Centres (ATCs) and Learners’ who are undertaking or have completed a Safety Training Awards (STA) regulated qualification. We are committed to complying with all current and relevant regulation and legislation to the development, delivery, and award of our qualifications.

Our aim is to facilitate open access for all Learners’ who are eligible for reasonable adjustments or special considerations for assessments, whilst ensuring the assessment of understanding, knowledge, skills, and competence is not compromised in any way for all of the protected characteristics within the Equality Act 2010, please refer to our Equal Opportunities Policy on our website for more information.

This policy will also be used by our staff to ensure they are dealing with all reasonable adjustments and special considerations requests in a fair and consistent manner.

This policy outlines the following:

• Arrangements for making reasonable adjustments and special considerations in relation to the delivery and assessment of STA regulated qualifications
• How Learners’ qualify for reasonable adjustments and special considerations
• Reasonable adjustments STA will accept and actions that are required prior to them being applied by the ATC
• What special considerations can be granted for Learners’.

Definition of a Reasonable Adjustment

A reasonable adjustment relates to any actions that help to reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty, which may place the Learner at a disadvantage during the delivery of a qualification or an assessment situation. They are applied to an assessment process for a qualification to enable a learner with a disability or difficulty to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and understanding of the levels of attainment required in the qualification specification and assessment strategy.

When a reasonable adjustment has been applied, the work produced by the learner will be marked to the same standards and assessment requirements as the work assessed of the other learners.

Definition of a Special Consideration

Special consideration is a post assessment adjustment to the marks of a Learners’ assessment result or rearrangement of an assessment time and/or date.

A special consideration can be granted after an assessment has taken place if a Learner may have been disadvantaged.

Policy

As an ATC, we expect the operations to adhere to relevant requirements, regulations, and legislation to promote fair access to assessment for all Learners’. The ATC should have policies and procedures in place which reflect the principles included within this policy.

Assessments should be a fair test of Learners’ knowledge, skills, and ability. The standard format of assessment may not be suitable for all Learners’, STAs aim is that our assessments and qualifications do not prevent any Learners’ from attaining them.

At Safety Training Awards, we recognise that reasonable adjustments or special considerations may be required at the time of assessment where the following applies:

• Learners have a permanent disability or specific learning needs
• A Learner has a temporary disability, learning needs or medical condition
• Learners’ are not available at the time of assessment due to a disability, learning need or medical condition.

Reasonable adjustments and special consideration arrangements are available to ensure all Learners’ receive recognition of their achievement providing there is evidence that the equity, validity, and reliability of the assessments can be assured. These arrangements should not be used to make assessments easier for Learners’ or give them a head start and should not disadvantage other Learners’.

All requests for reasonable adjustments and special considerations will be reviewed on an individual basis and all the information received will be considered.

Principles of Granting Reasonable Adjustments

Safety Training Awards will support ATCs applying reasonable adjustments by ensuring the following:

• Reasonable adjustments granted provide Learners’ with the opportunity to demonstrate their attainment
• The reasonable adjustment compensates for any disadvantage imposed by the disability or difficulty but do not disadvantage others
• Certificates issued do not mislead anyone regarding the Learners’ attainment
• The assessments were rigorous and fair
• The assessment activity is valid and is measurable against the assessment criteria
• Assessment results are reliable.

Please refer to the following table for Reasonable adjustments that ATCs are permitted to make without prior approval from STA:

ATC’s may reject requests in situations as follows:

• Reasonable adjustments must not invalidate the assessment requirements set out in the qualification specification and assessment strategy
• The content and delivery of the chosen course of study would prevent the learner from fulfilling a major section of the course affecting the assessment criteria
• Must not give the Learner an unfair advantage compared to other Learners’ for whom a reasonable adjustment has not been granted.

Procedure to Request a Reasonable Adjustment

ATC Co-ordinators, Tutors and Assessors must endeavour to identify Learner needs as soon as possible to request the appropriate adjustments are reviewed by Safety Training Awards (where applicable), once approved these can be implemented.

The process for requesting access arrangements and the evidence required may vary dependent upon the qualification specification and assessment strategy, the Learners’ circumstances and any other factors that need to be taken into consideration to ensure a fair process.

Reasonable adjustments may cover all the course content and not just the assessment. We ask that a request is submitted to Safety Training Awards prior to the course starting (where applicable), if the adjustment is to the assessment materials a minimum of 14 days’ notice is required. All reasonable adjustments that are not permitted to be made by the ATC must be approved by Safety Training Awards before being implemented.

The Safety Training Awards reasonable adjustments and special considerations form is available to complete and submit via the ATC’s Synergy account.

All requests for reasonable adjustments and special considerations will be reviewed on an individual basis and all the information received will be considered.

Safety Training Awards will not approve any adjustments that may compromise the assessment criteria and that may disadvantage other Learners’.

ATC Co-ordinators, Tutors and Assessors may assist Learners’ in choosing an appropriate course of study, making them aware of the qualification specification and assessment requirements. Learners’ may still decide to undertake / complete a qualification knowing they are unable to fulfil the assessment requirements; in this situation a certificate of attendance may be issued.

Failure to comply with this policy may constitute as malpractice resulting in disqualification of the Learner.

Principles of granting Special Considerations

Learners’ must have attended the course for the appropriate amount of guided learning hours and have been fully prepared by the Tutor to take the assessment. If their performance in the assessment or in the production of coursework is affected by adverse circumstances beyond their control, a special consideration may be granted for a Learner if they have temporarily experienced any of the following:

• Illness or injury
• An event out of the Learners’ control which has or is likely to have an impact on the Learners’ ability to take an assessment or demonstrate their levels of attainment during the assessment.

Any special considerations granted must:

• Treat all Learners’ fairly
• Require the learner to fully meet the assessment criteria
• Maintain the relevance, reliability and comparability of the assessment.

They must not invalidate the assessment requirements set out in the qualification specification and assessment strategy.

Special considerations should not give the Learner an unfair advantage, neither should it mislead an employer / training provider regarding the Learners’ achievements for certification. The Learners’ results must reflect the achievement in assessment and not their potential ability.

If a special consideration is granted this may result in a post-assessment adjustment to the marks of the Learners’ results. The adjustment will depend on the circumstances and reflect the difficulty faced by the Learner.

Procedure to request a Special Consideration

Following an assessment, an ATC Co-ordinator, Tutor, or Assessor may wish to submit a reasonable adjustment and special consideration form, in recognition of the difficulty a Learner has encountered. The Safety Training Awards reasonable adjustments and special considerations form is available to complete and submit via the ATCs synergy record. This should be submitted with all the paperwork at the end of the course within 7 working days of the assessment decisions being made.

Please indicate on the form the exact nature of the adverse condition(s) that you consider make the Learner eligible for a special consideration, supply copies of any appropriate evidence to support the request and securely upload to the synergy form prior to submitting it to Safety Training Awards.

Please note that there will be occasions when Learners’ are too unwell or distressed to complete an assessment and occasionally they may under perform.
All requests for special considerations will be reviewed on an individual basis and all the evidence received will be considered.

If the request for a special consideration is successful, the Learners’ performance will be reviewed based on the evidence that was submitted. A successful request of a special consideration will not necessarily change the assessment result.

Safety Training Awards will not approve any special considerations that may compromise the assessment criteria and that may disadvantage other Learners’.
Failure to comply with this policy may constitute as malpractice resulting in disqualification of the Learner.

Approved Training Centre (ATC) Responsibility

It is important that all ATC personnel involved in the management, assessment, and quality assurance of STA regulated qualifications, are fully aware of the contents within this policy and ensure their Learners’ are made aware of the policy when undertaking or completing any of our qualifications.

When an EQA visits an ATC, they may ask personnel and Learners’ some questions to identify if they are aware of the policies contents and purpose.

Arrangements Not Covered Within This Policy

If any circumstances arise relating to internal or external assessment not covered within this policy you should contact our Qualification Development Team at STA to discuss prior to the assessment taking place.

Appeals

If you wish to appeal against the decision to decline a request for a reasonable adjustment or special consideration, please refer to the enquiries and appeal policy, this is available on our website or you can request a copy by contacting us.

Monitoring and Review

This policy and its procedures will be reviewed regularly for improvements as part of our quality assurance requirements. This will ensure it is fit for purpose, reflects the services we deliver to our approved training centres and we provide services which are relevant to the requirements of individual needs.

Contact Details

Safety Training Awards

Please click here to view contact details for Safety Training Awards.

Last Updated: 12th August 2022