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Extra time and other access arrangements
Extra time, rest breaks, a computer reader or a word processor are decided by your child’s school, under rules set by JCQ. This is how the decision works and why it pays to raise a need early.
Access arrangements change how your child sits an exam without changing what the exam asks. The rules come from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), through which the exam boards agree shared rules. JCQ describes access arrangements as “agreed before an assessment”, so that students with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries can “show what they know and can do without changing the demands of the assessment”.
Who decides
The school decides. JCQ’s guidance for families says: “The school or college must decide which access arrangements a student has for their exams.” The process is led by the school’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), with support from teachers and senior staff.
The exam boards will not deal with you directly. JCQ’s rules say they “can only discuss access arrangements/reasonable adjustments with centres and not with parents/carers”, and centres here means schools and colleges. Exam boards also have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students.
The rules are in JCQ’s Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments for 2025 to 2026, updated in March 2026. JCQ says they continue to apply in the 2026 to 2027 school year.
The normal way of working
An arrangement has to match the way your child already works in school. JCQ’s rules tie it to the support your child gets “in the classroom”, in small groups and in internal tests, including “mock examinations”. An arrangement your child never uses is, in JCQ’s words, “not their normal way of working”. Your child must also have had the chance to practise with it before the first exam.
That takes time to build. JCQ expects schools to be able to apply at the start of, or during, the first year of a two-year GCSE course, with the picture of need built up in Years 7 to 9.
The main kinds
- Supervised rest breaks. The school can grant these without applying to the exam boards.
- Extra time: 25%, and in some cases up to 50% or more. The school has to apply online for 25% extra time.
- A computer reader or a reader. In the reading section of GCSE English Language, JCQ’s rules allow a computer reader, which reads the text aloud, but a person cannot read that section to your child.
- A scribe, or speech recognition software. JCQ’s rules allow a scribe in both sections of GCSE English Language, but where a scribe is used, marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar can only be given for skills your child shows themselves.
- A word processor, with the spelling and grammar check switched off.
- Others, such as enlarged or modified papers and a prompter.
Illness or an accident around exam time is handled differently. That is special consideration, which adjusts marks or grades after the exam, and the school applies for it.
When to raise it
As early as you can. JCQ’s guidance for families says: “Parents and carers should let the SENCo know as soon as possible if their child has additional needs.” For the June 2027 exams, the school must make its online applications by 21 March 2027 (by 31 January 2027 for modified papers, such as braille or modified enlarged papers), but the evidence and the normal way of working take far longer to build than that.
What you can do
- Tell the SENCo about any need, diagnosis or injury, in writing, and keep a copy.
- Ask how your child works in lessons now, and whether any arrangement is being used in classwork, tests and mocks.
- Talk to the school before paying for a private assessment. JCQ says an outside assessment can only count as evidence if the assessor “has liaised with the school or college” and had the school’s paperwork before the assessment took place.
- Before the mocks, ask the school to confirm which arrangements your child will have.
If your child is dyslexic, Support for dyslexia in GCSE English goes into more detail. The deadlines for 2027 are with the exam dates in GCSE English exam dates for 2027.
Sources
- JCQ, Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (2025 to 2026 edition, updated March 2026, and applying in 2026 to 2027)
- JCQ, Guidance for parents, carers and students about access arrangements (2025 to 2026)
- JCQ, Access arrangements, reasonable adjustments and special consideration
- JCQ, Key dates in the examination cycle: June 2027 (final)
- Ofqual, Ofqual guide for schools and colleges 2026 (January 2026, updated February 2026)