Exams and assessments 2021 | Students with special arrangements

The extended 23-hour window to complete an exam allows those who would usually have special timing arrangements to take any extra time or rest breaks they need. We will make every effort to timetable exams so that you will not have more than one take-home online exam in a day.

You will also be able to use your assistive technology at home. If you normally have the aid of a scribe, reader, or oral language modifier (OLM), your family or members of your household can perform this role for you. Please contact the Disability Advisory Service for further advice.

If you have other needs that cannot be met, please contact your Support Centre, HBS School Office or ISLI (International Study and Language Institute) Helpdesk in the first instance.

If you are diagnosed with a condition that might lead to reasonable adjustments in your exam arrangements during the exam period, fall ill or have an accident that affects your ability to complete your online exams, please contact us using your University email address, at take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk for advice.

If you are unable to take your exams for reasons outside of your control, you can use the Extenuating Circumstances process to let us know.

What should I do if I normally have a coloured sticker to attach to my coursework?

For online submissions, you will not receive the ‘yellow sticker’ as you would normally for exams. Instead, please use the ‘green sticker’ that you would normally attach to your online submissions.

The Exams Team will have sent you an electronic copy of your ‘green sticker’ by email when your reasonable adjustments were first agreed. If you do not have a copy of this email, please contact the Exams Team at take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk who will be able to send you a copy of your sticker.

Further information about how to download and insert your ‘green sticker’ into your work can be found on our Blackboard help site: How do I download and insert my electronic green ‘sticker’?

I require access to specialist equipment/software to sit my exams. Please can I be granted access to University IT equipment?

As you can use your own computer to complete your exam, any software that you would use normally for coursework (such as speech-to-text software), can be used during your exam. If you require coloured exam paper or the use of a coloured overlay, you can alter the exam paper colour online or print out the exam and use your own overlay.

If you believe that you will not be able to complete your online exams with the equipment available to you, please contact us using your University email address at take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk.

Will extra time be given for students who need it? How does it work if I take medication, or need rest breaks during my exams?

If you have a time-restricted exam, you will be allowed additional time to allow you to have rest-breaks.

Schools that already have a standard approach and arrangements for extra time/rest breaks for MCQs will apply these to your Blackboard Test(s) and other time-restricted exams.

Schools that do not have a standard arrangement should (as recommended by the Disability Advisory Service) allow an additional 10 minutes per hour, with the understanding that in certain circumstances it might need to be longer. This will be applied to your Blackboard Test or Gradescope assignment.

If you need further guidance, please contact us at take-home-exam@reading.ac.uk as soon as possible, via your University email address, and we will do all we can to assist you.

If you have other needs that cannot be met, please contact your Support Centre, Henley Helpdesk or ISLI Admin Office in the first instance.