The Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (QCAA) recognises that some students may have disability, impairment and/or medical conditions or experience other circumstances that may affect their ability to read, respond to and participate in assessment. Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments (AARA) are designed to assist these students.
Access arrangements are action/s taken by the school so that a student with an eligible impairment that may not be covered by the definition of disability can access assessment.
Reasonable adjustments are action/s taken by the school so that a student with an eligible impairment as a result of a disability and/or medical condition and experiencing other circumstances creating a barrier to the completion of assessment can be assessed.
Some common AARA include:
- alternative exam conditions, eg; extra time, rest breaks and/or separate venues
- alternative-format papers, eg; A4 to A3 enlargement, black-and-white materials
- assistive technology, e.g. screen reader and speech recognition application, magnification application
- a reader and/or scribe
- extensions to due dates
- the opportunity to undertake a comparable assessment for examinations missed due to short-term sickness or misadventure.
Applying for an AARA
Students in Year 11 and Year 12 who wish to apply for an AARA for an assessment must complete an application with supporting documentation. The application is submitted to the Deputy Principal who lodges this with QCAA on behalf of the student.
To apply for an AARA students will need to complete and submit the following forms.
Mansfield AARA Application form (Word or PDF version)
AARA Confidential Medical Report template (Word or PDF version)