A reasonable adjustment is an action that helps reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty that would otherwise place a learner at a substantial disdavantage in an online exam situation. Examples of reasonable adjustments include:

• Extending the duration of the exam - for example if a learner is taking an exam in English and English is not their first language or they have a learning disability, CQI can extend the exam duration by 30 minutes

• Providing assistance during the exam such as a reader - CQI’s online assessment system supports NVDA and JAWS screen reader software

• Arranging for a female proctor to check the identification and proctoring recording of a female Muslim learner

• Extending the exam schedule – for example if a learner cannot take their exam within the 30 days exam window due to illness.

An adjustment will not be approved if it involves unreasonable costs, timeframes or affects the security or integrity of the exam. This is because the adjustment is not ‘reasonable.’ A reasonable adjustment must not give the learner an unfair advantage over other learners taking the same or similar exams.

Prior to the start of the course, you should discuss any reasonable adjustment needs with your training provider. Depending on the reason for the adjustment, your training provider may ask you to provide supporting medical evidence to confirm your request is valid.

If you are taking your exam in English and your require extra time because English is not your first langage, your training provider will inform us when they send us your registration details. For all other reasonable adjustment requests, your training provider will complete a Reasonable Adjustments Request Form and email the form to CQI.

CQI will acknowledge the reasonable adjustments request and will process the request within 2 UK working days. CQI will email your training provider to confirm whether the reasonable adjustment has been approved and what action has been taken. Your training provider will then inform you of the outcome.

If extra time has been requested, the duration of your exam will be increased on the exam schedule shown on the learner homepage of your SARAS Exam portal. If the extra time is not showing, please contact CQI at assessment@quality.org.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your reasonable adjustment request, you have the right to appeal (see CQI and IRCA Online Exams: Appeals policy).

CQI will retain records of all requests for a reasonable adjustment and their outcomes for a period of five years.

Reference form：[ CQI and IRCA Online Exams Reasonable Adjustment Request Form v1 (final) ]