IB Access Arrangements: What Schools Must Know

IB access arrangements: what schools must know before they request them

The IB's inclusive access arrangements let a candidate with a learning support requirement, a medical condition or a temporary injury be assessed on what they know rather than on the barrier. Some arrangements a school may put in place itself; others need the IB's authorisation, with evidence, by a deadline. Schools that understand the difference request early and get what their students need. Schools that do not request in the exam term, and are refused.

What the policy says

The IB's Access and inclusion policy sets out the principle: an access arrangement removes a barrier to a candidate demonstrating their level of attainment without giving them an advantage over other candidates. It replaced the earlier policy on candidates with assessment access requirements and widened the approach. The policy, together with the Handbook of procedures for the programme, is the authority for which arrangements exist, which need authorisation, what evidence is required and by when; the details change, so a coordinator should read the current text each year.

Two ideas run through it. An arrangement must reflect the candidate's usual way of working, meaning the school already provides it in class and in internal assessment; and the decision is about need, not diagnosis, so a report that names a condition but does not describe its effect on assessment is not enough on its own.

Arrangements the school may decide, and those the IB must authorise

The policy divides arrangements into those a coordinator may put in place for a candidate on the school's own judgement, where the arrangement does not change what is assessed, and those that require a request to the IB with supporting documentation. The lists are in the current policy; in broad terms:

School-decided, in many cases: a separate room or a smaller venue, a particular seating position, aids such as coloured overlays or a reading ruler, and supervised rest breaks within the limits the policy states.
IB-authorised: additional time, a reader or reading software, a scribe or speech-recognition software, a word processor where it is not otherwise permitted, modified papers such as enlarged print or Braille, a prompter, a practical assistant, and extended rest breaks beyond the school's discretion.
Special consideration, a separate process, for a candidate affected by an adverse circumstance at the time of the examination, such as illness or bereavement, requested after the event with evidence.

The evidence a request needs

A request for authorisation rests on two kinds of evidence, and the second is the one schools forget.

Documentation of the requirement: a psychological or medical report from an appropriately qualified professional, within the recency the policy specifies, describing the difficulty and its effect on assessment, not only a diagnosis.
Educational evidence of need: the school's own record that the arrangement is the candidate's usual way of working, provided in class and in internal assessment, and observations from teachers of the difficulty in practice.
For a temporary condition such as a broken arm, medical evidence of the injury and its expected duration.

The coordinator's process across the year

Requests are submitted through the IB's coordinator system by the deadline for the session, which has fallen with the registration deadline in the November before a May session. A request that arrives in the examination term is treated as late and may be refused unless the need arose late, with evidence. The process that avoids that:

At entry to the programme: identify candidates with existing support plans, reports or arrangements from earlier schooling, and note what expires.
First term: agree with the learning support team which arrangements each candidate uses in class, and start recording them as usual practice.
Before the deadline: gather the professional reports, check their recency against the policy, assemble the educational evidence, submit.
On authorisation: brief the candidate, the teachers and the invigilators, and rehearse the arrangement in mock examinations.
Examination term: implement exactly what was authorised, record any incident, and keep the authorisation with the examination records.

Where requests fail

The reasons the IB gives for declining or querying requests are consistent.

A report that is older than the policy allows, or from a professional whose qualification the policy does not accept.
A diagnosis without a description of the effect on assessment.
No evidence that the arrangement is the candidate's usual way of working; a request for additional time for a student who has never had it in class.
The wrong arrangement for the need: a scribe requested where a word processor would remove the barrier.
A late request with no explanation of why the need arose late.

Inclusion beyond the examination

Access arrangements are the assessment end of a wider expectation. The IB's standards ask a school to have an inclusion or access policy and to implement it: to identify learning support requirements, to provide for them in teaching, and to keep the records that show it. A school that provides support in class all year has both the educational evidence a request needs and the practice the policy describes. One that provides it only for the examination has neither.

Common questions

Which IB access arrangements need authorisation?

Arrangements that change the conditions of assessment: additional time, a reader or reading software, a scribe or speech-recognition software, a word processor where not otherwise permitted, modified papers, a prompter, a practical assistant and extended rest breaks. The current Access and inclusion policy lists them and the evidence each needs; some arrangements, such as a separate room or coloured overlays, a school may decide itself.

What evidence does the IB need for additional time?

A psychological or medical report within the recency the policy specifies, from a professional it accepts, describing the difficulty and its effect on assessment; and the school's own evidence that additional time is the candidate's usual way of working in class and in internal assessment. A diagnosis alone, or an arrangement the school has never provided, is not enough.

When must access arrangement requests be submitted?

By the deadline the Handbook of procedures sets for the session, which has fallen with the registration deadline in November for a May session. Late requests are accepted only where the need arose late, with evidence, so coordinators should identify candidates at entry to the programme and assemble reports and educational evidence well before the deadline.