Exams

This page is about epilepsy and exams in the UK. If you are looking for information in other countries, please contact your local epilepsy organisation who may be able to help you.

How can I help myself during exam time?

If you have epilepsy, exam time may increase the risk of seizures, due to extra stress and not getting enough sleep or regular meals, all of which are common triggers for seizures.

To help yourself have a fair chance at your exams, it is important to try to reduce the risk that seizures will affect your performance in exams. This might include setting aside time for relaxation (to try to reduce stress and anxiety), as well as making sure that you do not skip meals and get enough sleep.

How can my school or college help me?

For some students, the effect of epilepsy on exam performance cannot be removed entirely. However, if you have epilepsy, you may be able to get some extra help. Education settings, such as schools and colleges, and exam boards have a few ways to help you reach your full potential in formal exams like GCSEs and A levels. See Special consideration and Access arrangements below.

Seeking advice

It is important for you and your parents or carers to know what extra help you may be entitled to as early as possible, so you can organise this well before the exams begin.

You need to actively seek advice about help that you are entitled to. First, you need to make sure the school or college is aware of your epilepsy. This includes how the epilepsy may affect your education, including any specific needs or difficulties you may have. You can do this by contacting the nominated exams officer, which every school or college should have.

What does an exams officers do?

The exams officer is responsible for organising each exam and each individual student’s entries. They should contact the exam boards to let them know about your request for extra help well before the exams take place.

It is a good idea to find out as early as possible who your exams officer is, and make sure they are aware of any action they need to take on your behalf.

How do exam boards help?

Exam board staff can offer advice and authorise changes to compensate for any difficulties, or potential difficulties, you may face in the exam process.

All exam boards in the UK are overseen by The Joint Council for Qualifications, who give guidance to schools, colleges and exam boards on the types of changes that can be made to exams. Instructions and forms to make these changes can be downloaded, free of charge, from their website.

The school or college is responsible for completing the forms, with help and information from you, your family, teachers, and sometimes from your doctor.

What changes can exam boards make?

There are two main types of changes that can be made: special consideration and access arrangements.

Special consideration

Special consideration means that if you miss part or all of an exam, you can be given an exam mark that takes this into account.

You may be eligible for special consideration if an event during an exam, or close to it, may cause you to do less well than you are capable of. For example, if you have a seizure during an exam, in the morning before an exam, or one which makes you unable to attend the exam, you may be compensated by special consideration.

In these cases, your exam mark may be scaled up based on the work completed so far, other assessments you have done, such as other exams, course work and with advice from your teacher. The maximum change to exam marks is five per cent of the total marks available.

It is advisable to tell the school or college about any difficulties as soon as you possibly can, preferably before the exam takes place.

If you miss all of an exam because of a long term medical condition (which your school or college is aware of), you will be given a mark based on other assessments you have had, such as other exams, course work and with advice from your teacher.

How do I apply for special consideration?

To apply for special consideration, the exam officer must fill in a Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) form on your behalf and send it to the Special Requirements Unit of the relevant exam board (the teacher who is running the course will be able to provide details of the exam board).

If the special consideration is needed because of a long term medical condition that your school or college is aware of, the form should be filled in and kept by the school or college.

Access arrangements

Sometimes, your exam performance may be affected in the run up to a seizure. So if you managed to complete half an exam before experiencing a seizure, simply adjusting the marks by a small amount may not reflect your true potential. In this instance, access arrangements may be more appropriate for you.

Access arrangements are physical changes that can be made in exams to help people with disabilities, or learning disabilities. They were put in place to ensure that the exams system complies with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Many different types of arrangements can be made, such as audio or Braille exam questions for candidates with visual impairments.

In most cases, the school or college will be able to decide how to make these arrangements, and in some cases they can make them without having to apply to the exam board.

If you have epilepsy, there are different types of access arrangements that may help you. One of these could be to give you extra time to compensate for absence seizures – up to 25 per cent extra time can be allowed. Alternatively, a person such as a teaching assistant could sit with you to identify seizures and add extra time accordingly.

Rest breaks can be granted to any person with a medical condition, as long as the school or college are aware of your condition in good time.

The school can also organise for you to sit an exam at a different time, or in a different location to other people who are taking the same exam. This may be helpful if you usually have seizures first thing in the morning, for example - your school can arrange for you to have an exam in the afternoon, to give you time to recover.

What should I do now?

Members of school or college staff would need to have a good understanding of your epilepsy and how it may affect your exam performance, to decide whether special consideration or access arrangements would be most suitable for you, well before the exams take place.

If you have epilepsy and may need extra help with your exams, it is a good idea to arrange this as early as possible before the exams take place, to make sure that you get all the help you are entitled to.

• Joint Council for Qualifications
• JCQ form 14
• Assessment and Qualifications Alliance
• Edexcel
• Disability Discrimination Act.