Exams Office Staff can use this guide to create, add and manage Access Arrangements
Access Arrangements allow candidates with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access the assessment/exam paper without changing the demands of the assessment. For example, readers, scribes and Braille question papers. See here for JCQ guidance on Access Arrangements
Access Arrangements are normally assigned to candidates prior to the start of Exams as the Exams Office Staff will need this information in order to seat Candidates and on occasion assign the Candidates to a separate room to sit their exams.
Use this guide to;
- Create Access Arrangements
- Add Access Arrangements in the Student Profile
- September 2025 Enhancements
- December 2025 Enhancements
- Online Access Arrangements Free Text
See also;
- How to Import Access Arrangements in Bulk
- How to Manage Special Candidates in Exams
- How to Merge Special Requirements with Access Arrangements
Access: The minimum permissions required for Access Arrangements are found in the both the Administration>Maintenance>Lookup Tables and Framework>Students>Profile Modules of Config > Setup > Roles and Permissions.
Create Access Arrangements
Note: Shared and Isolated Room Requirements will have to have their own Access Arrangement, for example if a Candidate needs a Reader, Extra Time and an Isolated Room for their Exams this would mean creating 3 different Access Arrangements.
You can create your own Exam Discretionary and Exam Temporary Arrangements via a lookup table. For Online Arrangements this list is fixed.
- Exam Discretionary shows as Discretionary in the Student Profile
- Exam Temporary Arrangements shows when you select Other Online Arrangements>Temporary Arrangements in the Student Profile
Go to Config>Admin>Lookup Tables and from the Admin Lookup dropdown choose Exam Discretionary Arrangements
Click New and then enter the Lookup Name ( Maximum 10 characters) and Description ( Maximum 50 characters)
Click Create
Un tick Active if you are no longer using the Access Arrangement , click Delete to Delete and Access Arrangement.
For Exam Temporary Arrangement repeat the process as above.
The Student Profile
Now lets look how Access Arrangements show and can be added in the Student Profile.
From the Profile tab in the Student Profile click on the dropdown next to All to see Access Arrangements
Click the + in the Access Arrangements panel to add to the Student Profile
Exam Discretionary Arrangements show under Discretionary Arrangements
Complete the required fields, any fields marked with an *asterisk must be completed.
Click Save.
Exam Temporary Arrangements show under Other Online Arrangements
Carry Forward for Post-16 Resit: this allows the Access Arrangements to be used for resits as normally it would have expired at the end of Year 11.
Arrangement Consent: is used for reporting purposes
September 2025 Enhancements
To support compliance with the latest JCQ Access Arrangements guidance, we have updated the Student Profile > Access Arrangements dropdown list. These changes ensure schools are using the correct terminology and can easily locate the right arrangements for candidates ahead of the November exam season.
Key updates include:
- All dropdown titles now exactly match JCQ specifications.
- Options are presented in alphabetical order for faster selection.
- Each arrangement is placed in the correct JCQ category.
- Any arrangements no longer valid have been set to inactive.
For existing student records, previously assigned arrangements remain unchanged. When adding new records, users will see the updated JCQ-compliant list only.
Schools can be confident that their access arrangement records are fully aligned with JCQ rules, reducing risk of error and ensuring smoother exam administration.
December 2025 Enhancements
Students > Student Details > Profile > Access Arrangements
The Access Arrangement Type dropdown has been updated in the Online Access Arrangements tab to reflect the latest requirements.
Removed Access Arrangement Types
The following Online Access Arrangement Types have been removed from the dropdown and can no longer be selected for new entries in the Access Arrangements panel:
- Alternative site for conducting examinations
- Braille transcript
- Communication Professional (for candidates using Sign Language)
- Exemptions
- Language Modifier
- Live speaker for pre-recorded examination components
- Prompter
- Read aloud and/or the use of an examination reading pen
- Supervised rest breaks
- Word processor
Note: Any existing access arrangements of these types will remain on the student’s record. Schools will need to remove them manually if they are no longer required.
Online Access Arrangments Free Text
March 2026 update
Navigate to Students > Student Details > Profile > Access Arrangements
- A new Details free-text field (up to 500 characters) has been added to the Online Access Arrangements tab.
- The Details text box is enabled when the Application Status is Pending, Referred, or Approved.
This field is available for both new and existing online access arrangement records.