Key Information about Access Arrangements

 You will need to make any arrangements in advance of your test. Requests for access arrangements open several weeks before test booking. We advise that you submit a request as early as possible. Refer to our Key Dates page.

The later you submit your application, the more difficult it becomes to secure your chosen time, day, or location.

You can apply via your online account.

Requests for most access arrangements can take up to ten working days for UAT-UK to review. Requests for non-standard accommodations can take longer. It is your responsibility to allow enough time for them to be approved before you make your booking. You are advised to apply at least 10 working days before you intend to book your test. 

Please refer to Pearson VUE’s list of Permitted Comfort Aids for items that you can take into the Test Centre without approval. If you need other items for access reasons, you will need to apply for access arrangements. Personal items may be visually inspected before you sit your test.

General Accessibility Support at your Test Centre

There are other aids that you also do not need approval for. However, you should contact Pearson Customer Services ahead of your booking, to ensure they know you will need access to one of more of these things:

-Wheelchair access

-Adjustable height desks

These accommodations are subject to Test Centre availability.

Access Arrangements that require UAT-UK approval

The following arrangements will require you to get approval from the UAT-UK office in advance of your test:

Extra Time

This may be applied if you require more time to read or process test information due to a disability, learning difficulty or long-term medical or mental health condition. Extra time is normally awarded as 25% of the test duration. Extra test time will not be normally approved if you are applying for additional time because English is not your first language or because of handwriting issues.

Rest Breaks / Pause the Clock

Rest breaks are approved if needed to manage a disability during testing or a candidate needs to take certain medication or use comfort aids not permitted in the test room.

Separate Invigilation

Candidates may require a separate room for the use of a reader/recorder (see below) or for another reason which justifies separate invigilation. This must be evidenced in the documentation you supply to UAT-UK. Separate rooms are not available at all centres. Candidates will be offered the nearest available location.

Reader/Recorder

This is a person who reads the questions to you and/or types in your responses and can be offered in cases where your ability to read the test or use the computer to input your answers is impaired.

Access to medicine or other non-permitted comfort aids from your desk

This can be offered where there in an immediate need to access these items from your desk.

Use of a coloured overlay

This must be supplied by the candidates and will be approved where the standard adjustments to background colour, available to all candidates during their test, are not suitable. Please refer to our full Access Arrangements Policy for more information about coloured overlays.

Other non-standard accommodations not listed here

The UAT-UK Access Arrangements Policy is aligned to the regulations set out by the UK Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). If you are currently in receipt of, or apply for, access arrangements outside of these regulations, you will normally be offered the equivalent UK reasonable adjustments for your disability.

Supporting Evidence

Please note that the UAT-UK office may request additional evidence if, in our view, the initial supporting documentation is not considered sufficient or in line with the requirements outlined here.

Candidates Currently in Education

If you are currently in education, we require a signed letter (usually dated 2025) on headed paper from your current or most recent school/college or university, which should confirm:

• your learning difference, disability or medical condition.
• the reasonable adjustments you receive for public exams / your normal way of working
• if you require extra time, it must state the amount of time you are entitled to
• if you are requesting to sit in a separate room, it must state that you are entitled to 1:1 invigilation
• on what basis this has been agreed, for example a diagnosis from a qualified medical practitioner or an assessment by a registered psychologist or specialist teacher assessor.

Alternatively, a copy of one of the following JCQ forms (all pages) can be provided:

• Form 8: Application for Access Arrangements – Profile of learning difficulties
• Form 9: Profile of need

This should not be completed earlier than the start of Year 9 (the school year in which pupils become 14 years old) or equivalent. It must be signed by the Head of Centre/SENCo/Assessor.

Candidates who left education before 2025

If you are no longer in education, you must provide one of the following:

For learning differences: you must provide a full, post-16 diagnostic assessment report of that specific learning difficulty. It must:

>Come from a specialist teacher assessor or registered psychologist

>Include a clear outline of your learning difference

>State the justification for any access arrangements and how your learning difference would otherwise have an impact on your test performance

>Specify the reasonable adjustments you receive for public exams / your normal way of working

>Include, where applicable, the amount of extra time entitled to and/or that 1:1 invigilation is required

For physical disabilities, medical conditions and/or sensory impairments: you must provide a recent letter (dated 2025) from your usual GP Practice or a specialist (e.g. a consultant or psychiatrist) which must (as appropriate):

>Include a clear outline of your disability

>State the justification for any access arrangements and how your disability would otherwise have an impact on your test performance

>Specify the reasonable adjustments you receive for public exams / your normal way of working

>Include, where applicable, the amount of extra time entitled to and/or that 1:1 invigilation is required