JCQ Examination Access Arrangements Training (Update/Refresher) - On-Demand Video Course (EAA2)

This course is for anyone involved in the access arrangements process who wants to update and refresh their knowledge of the JCQ regulations for the current academic year. It assumes a working knowledge of the JCQ regulations (for our introductory course, please click here).

This course is approved by the SpLD Assessments Standards Committee (SASC) for 3 Core CPD hours.

This pre-recorded update course relates to the current JCQ regulations for access arrangements.

With a focus on the current regulations, alongside embedding the changes over the last couple of years, we aim to build confidence in applying the regulations in your centre, supporting you to make individual, evidence-led decisions for your students. The course covers:

• AAs for candidates with Learning Difficulties/EHCP/Disabilities
• Applying for AAs online
• A brief overview of the JCQ AA evidence forms
• Suggestions for new and established tests

The course tutors are Caroline Read, Rebecca Thompson and Nick Lait.

Caroline Read

Caroline is one of the founders of Communicate-ed. She is a specialist teacher who has practical experience in all areas of the access arrangements process and trains for local authorities, universities and SEND services. Caroline has contributed to a range of publications, including academic journals. She has worked with a number of publishers to develop tests, and has been involved in various DfE and Ofqual training and policy projects. She was a member of the working party that established the Access Arrangements Online system. In 2024 Caroline was presented with a University of Roehampton Chancellor’s Alumni Award, for Innovation and Inspiration in her industry.

Rebecca Thompson

Rebecca is a Specialist Teacher with more than 21 years’ assessment experience. She has a current Assessment Practising Certificate, regularly carrying out diagnostic assessment for dyslexia and dyscalculia, as well as carrying out access arrangement assessments. She is a senior assessor and IQA for the PAPAA course, supporting students with the course demands. She is a member of the APC accreditation team for the BDA and is a SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) approved CPD provider, with current SASC courses for mentoring on diagnostic report writing; building assessment confidence in report writing for SpLD in maths; branching out into EAA: a guide for Level 7/APC holder; and using the SASC 2025 report format for SpLD in maths.

Nick Lait

Nick Lait is Chair of the JCQ Special Requirements Committee. His responsibilities include the production of JCQ documents relating to examination administration, such as the JCQ publication Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments and Instructions for Conducting Examinations. Nick provides advice and guidance to schools and colleges, predominately on access arrangements. He has a thorough knowledge of the examination administration system having previously worked with Edexcel for 11 years, in both UK and International exam operations, taking a lead role in the development of Access Arrangements Online.

This page is for booking our On-Demand Video course. You will have access to this pre-recorded course for 10 days from your selected start date. You can watch the course as many times as you wish during that period.

This pre-recorded update course relates to the current JCQ regulations for access arrangements.

The video presentations themselves take 3 hours and 15 minutes, but this does not allow for pausing the presentation for action points or extra reading of handouts so we recommend to allow 4 hours for the course.

When you select to book an online course, you will be able to select a start date.

From this date, you will have ten consecutive days access to your chosen course (unless the course specifies otherwise).

Once you have filled in your details and submitted the booking, you should receive a couple of emails within a few minutes. One of these will confirm you order and payment. The other will be a confirmation email for the course and include login details to access your course.

If you select today as your start date, the login details should work from the time you receive the email. If you have chosen a start date in the future, the login details will only work from that date.

You will be able to access any video presentations and course notes for ten days. Assessments can only be taken once. Please note that if you have watched all the video presentations through once and then log back into the website to go over the material again, you will get the following message: ‘You are not registered for any courses at this time’. To get back into the course you need to:

• Click on the ‘Completed Courses’ tab (next to Current Courses)
• Click on the course title or arrow
• Click whichever element you would like to revisit

If you are already registered for an online course with us, please click here to log into your course.

This course is not assessed. However, for an extra £10 you can take an online multiple choice assessment that proves your knowledge of the JCQ regulations and procedures. If you pass, you can print out a certificate confirming your knowledge of the regulations to put in your CPD folder. To add this to your booking, please select it below when it asks if you want to ‘add assessment’.

Communicate-ed is an Authorised Assessment CPD provider for the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC). This is a SASC approved course giving 3 core hours for renewal of SpLD Assessment Practising Certificates. If you complete this course, you will receive a certificate for 3 hours of SASC-approved core CPD.