Reasonable Adjustments

Students who feel unable to study or enter for an examination due to the presence of a
barrier, such as a permanent or temporary disability or condition, may wish to request for
special arrangements or aids to be put in place to enable them to study. In these cases, AYBI
will make adjustments to administrative and/or examination procedures if such adjustments
are judged to be reasonable, necessary and practicable. In order to safeguard the integrity of
the award, all students will be assessed against the same criteria and no concessions will be
made in this respect.

Examples of barriers to entry are as follows:
Disability. Specifically: lack of physical mobility, visual impairment, and hearing
impairment, all of which may prevent students from studying.
Religious. Students may, for religious reasons, be unable to take part in an activity in
the class, or may wish to wear special items of clothing or artefacts.
Special Circumstances: Students might have extenuating circumstances due to which
they could not attend the Class or write an exam.

At the current time, AYBI mitigates against these barriers in the following ways:
Disability. AYBI invites applications from students requesting reasonable
adjustments on the grounds of disability. The term „disabled‟, for the purposes of
AYBI’s examinations, encompasses any physical, mental, learning or behavioural
impairment (permanent or temporary) which is likely to affect the student’s ability to
perform well in the examination. A „condition‟ which is normally temporary may still
be such that it is appropriate for AYBI to be made aware of it in advance of the
examination.

Religious. AYBI Administrators, whose remit includes the planning of examination or
tours or trips, are instructed via this policy to avoid religious holidays. Examination
specifications indicate that regulation uniform for examinations is recommended
rather than required, and where a student requests permission to adapt their dress
for religious reasons, every effort will be made to accommodate such a request, while
keeping the health and safety of the student, the safeguarding of the examination or
class environment, and the integrity of the unit and/or qualification, paramount.

Special Circumstances: The student is supposed to talk to his/her Head of
Department in order to get his leave sanctioned or whatsoever.

Application procedure. The students should notify AYBI at the time of admission about their
disability. For other reasons, they can write an application to the Relevant Authority.
Applications should be made by the closing date for examination entry or assignment
submission, to enable AYBI to make any special arrangements that may be necessary to
ensure that the student’s particular requirements are met. In instances where a disability or
condition is not known until after the closing date for entry, Head of Department must be
informed immediately and no later than two (2) working days prior to the
examination/assignment submission. Under no circumstances should any forms be given
directly to the examiner or Internal Verifier on the day of the examination.

Special Consideration
Special consideration is an adjustment to the mark of an assessment for a student who was
prepared for and present at an internal examination or assignment but who may have been
disadvantaged by adverse circumstances that arose immediately prior to or at the time of the
examination.

Special consideration cannot give the student an unfair advantage. Additionally, the
application of special consideration must not cause the user of a certificate to be misled
regarding a student’s achievements. Examinations and assessments are a measure of what a
student can do at one moment in time. Only minor adjustments can, therefore, be made to
the mark awarded because to do more than this would jeopardise the integrity of the award.
A decision to award special consideration will be based on a number of factors, which may
vary from student to student and from one examination to another. These factors may
include the nature and severity of the circumstances and the date of the examination in
relation to the circumstances. Each case is assessed and the outcome determined on an
individual basis.

Special consideration may be given at AYBI Manager’s discretion to students when:
 Performance in an internal examination or assignment examination is considered to
have been affected by circumstances beyond the control of the student or examiner;
 Reasonable Adjustments to the examination which were agreed in proved to be either
inadequate or inappropriate.

 The following are examples off circumstances which may lead to an application for
special consideration, provided they are substantiated by medical or other
appropriate evidence:
 Serious disturbance or disruption during the examination such as a fire alarm or
power failure;
 Temporary illness, injury or indisposition either immediately prior to or during the
examination (but assuming that the student attempted to, or did, complete the
examination, and did not elect to withdraw);
 Illness during the examination of the examiner
 Very recent bereavement of a member of the student’s immediate family;
 Life-threatening illness of a member of the student’s immediate family;
 Serious domestic crisis leading to acute anxiety
The following are examples of circumstances where special consideration would NOT apply:
 Permanent disability (unless the Reasonable Adjustments agreed in advance proved
to be either inadequate or inappropriate);
 Minor disturbance in the examination room caused by another student, such as bad
behaviour or feeling unwell;
 Failing to attend the examination at the correct time
Students who become ill or suffer an injury in advance of the examination are not eligible for
Special Consideration and are advised to withdraw from the examination.
Application for Special Consideration will not be accepted after results have been received
except when evidence comes to light which demonstrates that the student must have been
affected at the time of the examination, even though the problem did not reveal itself until
after the results were known.

If an application for Special Consideration is successful, it may, dependent on the
circumstances, result in one of the following:
 A slight adjustment to the marks. The amount of any adjustment to marks as a result
of Special Consideration will be shown on the student’s Result Form.
 A re-examination free of charge, if possible.