Your child may be able to get extra help with coursework and exams because of the impact of their epilepsy.
But, please be aware: only a school, college or exam centre can apply on behalf of your child for any of the adjustments covered here. You cannot do it yourself.
This page gives a quick overview of the support available in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with links for further information and support.
Can my child get extra support with exams?
If you think your child needs extra help with exams, you should speak, as soon as possible to the person at your child’s school who’s responsible for special educational needs support.
There two types of support they may be able to get:
- Access arrangements
- Special consideration
Access arrangements
Access arrangements can be put in place to help your child during exams and include:
- Supervised rest breaks during the exam
- Extra time to complete the exam
- Taking exams at a different time of day, e.g. afternoons if your child tends to have seizures in the morning
- Taking exams in a different place, e.g. in a room on their own, at home or in hospital
It’s important you speak as soon as possible to the school, as it might need permission for access arrangements within set deadlines.
Please note: only the school, college or exam centre can apply for access arrangements and they must be agreed by the exam board ahead of the assessment taking place.
Evidence for access arrangements should also show these to be the child or young person’s normal way of working within the centre.
Special consideration
Your child may be able to get special consideration for exams and coursework.
Special consideration is an adjustment to a candidate’s mark or grade after an examination to reflect temporarily illness, injury or other indisposition at the time of the exam or assessment.
If the young person’s epilepsy affects them during the exam or assessment, the school can make an application or special consideration, for example if they had a seizure during an exam or were recovering from a seizure before the exam.
An exam board can adjust your child’s mark after an exam if:
- Your child was fully prepared but their performance was affected on the day due to illness, e.g. a seizure before or during the exam
- Your child had to miss an exam for a valid reason, e.g. a recent seizure, illness or injury
If you think your child may be eligible for special consideration for an exam, speak as soon as possible to the school’s exams officer so that they can apply for special consideration to the exam board.
But, please bear in mind that candidates will not be eligible for special consideration if preparation for, or performance in, an examination was affected by long-term illness or other difficulties during the course affecting revision time – unless the illness or circumstances worsened what would have been be a minor issue at the time of the assessment, i.e. difficulties over and above any that would have been made better by previous access arrangements.
If your child is likely to miss a coursework deadline because of a seizure, illness or injury, they may be able to get an extension of up to 10 days.
Further information
England, Northern Ireland and Wales
To find out more about access arrangements and special considerations, click on the link below:
SATs (England)
To find out more about access arrangements for SATS, click on the links below:
Scotland
To find out more about access arrangements, click on the link below:
To find out more about special consideration, click on the link below:
