Further Education/Apprenticeships

If you are dyslexic, you do not need formal testing or diagnosis to receive support during further education. This support is called SEN (Special Educational Needs) Support.

You should discuss your needs with your college or education provider before your course begins. They will assess your needs by consulting you, your previous school and (if appropriate, and with your permission) your parents. Over the age of 16 you should be fully involved in the discussions around your SEN Support.

The college must explain what support they will provide to meet your learning needs. They should regularly review this support, keep records of your progress and discuss this with you.

Support can include:

• Use of assistive technology
• Specialist tuition
• Note-takers
• One-to-one or small group learning support

Exams

As a dyslexic student you may be eligible for Exam Access Arrangements (EAAs) for any exam related to your study or apprenticeship. You should discuss your needs with your tutor or learning support officer well in advance of any exams.

You may need to be assessed in order for the college to apply to the Joint Council of Qualifications (JCQ) for appropriate Access Arrangements. The JCQ will also take into account your 'normal way of working' e.g. do you normally use assistive technology during lessons?

For apprenticeships, Access Arrangements for functional skills tests are set by the relevant exam awarding body.

Exam Access Arrangements can include:

• Extra time
• Rest breaks
• Human readers for candidates who struggle to read by themselves. These are not allowed in Functional Skills English reading papers
• Computer readers ('text to speech') as an alternative to human readers
• Reading aloud for those who have reading difficulties and can concentrate better if they can hear themselves read
• Scribes for very poor or slow writers who cannot write by themselves. These are not allowed in English writing papers for Functional Skills
• Voice recognition software as an alternative to scribes. Candidates can dictate and then edit responses
• Word processors for typing answers can be used by any candidate. You can also use a spell checker and a dictionary
• Coloured overlays or question papers printed on coloured paper