Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations Policy and Procedure 

The Real Consultancy Company (TRCC) is committed to high levels of quality assurance and policies that are open, transparent and free from bias. 

TRCC has a responsibility, under relevant equalities legislation and the requirements of the qualification regulators, to ensure that all apprentices have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding to the level of attainment required within each end-point assessment, and those barriers to achievement are removed where possible.  TRCC will ensure that each apprentice is given appropriate adjustments/special considerations to the end point assessment process to provide them an equal opportunity to achieve.  This will include a requirement for employers/main providers that provide assessment facilities for their apprentices to apply reasonable adjustments that have been approved by TRCC. 

TRCC will not make adjustments to standards or pass marks.  All adjustments will be deemed reasonable and not give the apprentice an unfair advantage. 

Responsibilities 

The Apprentice, the Employer and/or Main Provider are responsible for requesting reasonable adjustments/special considerations. 

The End Point Assessor (EPA), in consultation with the Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) is responsible for approving reasonable adjustment/special consideration requests.  A record of an approved request will be stored within the Apprentice’s file.   

Circumstances for Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations 

Adjustments to the end point assessment process will typically be made if an apprentice has a physical, sensory or mental impairment which has a substantial and short or long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. 

Types of Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations 

Types of reasonable adjustments and special considerations could include the following: 

• Extra time to complete the end point assessment. 

• Supervised rest breaks. 

• Use of readers, scribes, transcribers, word processors, laptops or micro processing devices. 

• Miscellaneous types of reasonable adjustments including brailling of non-secure assessment materials, taped responses, modified question papers (e.g. enlarged or printed on coloured paper. 

Procedure for Application for Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations 

Requests for reasonable adjustments for apprentices must be submitted prior to the closure date for entry to end point assessment. 

TRCC has a duty to implement the Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations Policy for all apprentices undertaking end point assessment with us.  This responsibility includes assessment of needs, recommendation of reasonable adjustment, communication with TRCC and provision of resources to facilitate the adjustment.  Main Providers will also be responsible for ensuring that appropriate facilities for work-based assessments are available in conjunction with the employer. 

Apprentices who are registered with TRCC must complete a Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations Request Form and pass to their Employer and/or Main Provider along with appropriate medical evidence. 

The Employer or Main Provider will forward the request to TRCC and should retain a copy for review and audit purposes. 

On receipt of the completed documentation, TRCC will confirm approval of the proposed adjustment/special consideration to the Employer/Main Provider by email within 3 working days.  The Employer/Main Provider should ensure that a copy of this approval, together with a copy of the of the Reasonable Adjustments/Special Considerations Request Form is attached to the examination/assessment activity report prior to despatch for marking.    

Appeals Against TRCC Decisions on Reasonable Adjustments/Special Consideration Requests 

TRCC will deal sympathetically with requests for reasonable adjustments or special consideration. In cases where a request is refused, the apprentice has the right to appeal against the decision. 

Stage 1 – Review 

Apprentices and Employers/Main Providers may request a review of the decision made following the above process.  The review is conducted by the Lead IQA who will re-examine the initial decision.  Requests for a review of a reasonable adjustment/special consideration decision should be made as quickly as possible following the initial decision and will be reviewed equally swiftly to allow the outcome to be notified before the assessment takes place.  

Stage 2 – Appeal relating to reasonable adjustments/special consideration decision.

If the apprentice or the Employer/Main Provider does not agree with the outcome of the review, they have the right to take the process to Stage 2 – Appeal, which would involve an independent review of the case.  A Stage 2 – Appeal will only be considered if the appellant can show TRCC did not apply procedures consistently during the investigation, or that procedures were not followed properly or fairly.  The original circumstances will not be re-investigated at Stage 2 – Appeal.  There is a fee of £125 for Stage 2 – Appeal which is refunded if the Appeal is upheld. 

Appeals are heard by the Governing Board.  The decision of the Governing Board is final.

Standardisation

All decisions made on reasonable adjustments and special considerations will be reviewed at the six-monthly

Standardisation events to ensure they are being applied fairly and consistently.  This will be reported on the Standardisation Meeting records.