IELTS Energy 1479: What Are Special “Access Arrangements” for the IELTS Exam?
20:28 Share

This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1479. What are special access arrangements for the IELTS exam?

Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with former IELTS examiner Jessica Beck and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com

Today we answer a listener question about special arrangements that can be made on IELTS for students who need them. Listen in for details about these accommodations and how you can request them.

Doing this podcast for all of you is one of the best parts of my job. We get to teach you high scoring native vocabulary that will help you stand out on the exam. We teach you strategies you need to get the right answers quickly on test day. And we have a lot of fun providing model sample speaking answers. I wonder though, is all of this enough for you to get the scores you need on test day?

Find out with our free IELTS quiz, allearsenglish.com slash myscore. Take a short quiz and get free resources based on your score. Go to allearsenglish.com slash myscore.

Aubrey, we're going to get right into it today because we guys, we have done a great deal of research for today's episode and we have a lot to talk about. Yes, we got a great question about access arrangements on IELTS. There are a lot of people this affects, so I'm excited for you guys to get some details about this today. Yes. So first we're going to read a specific question about dyslexia actually.

And then we're going to talk about how to get special access arrangements, what these are possible for, and what those arrangements look like. Yes, exactly. This question was from Wolfgang. Thank you for sending in the question.

who said, any hints for the writing test as I struggled with a slight legasthenic issue? My letters are sometimes in the wrong order when typing fast or under stress, like in an exam. For example, I might write wrong W-O-R-N-G instead of spelling it correctly. This is also called dyslexia in English. So we have good news for Wolfgang. Hopefully this will help. Yes, we have great news for you. Guys, if there

if there is any, and again, we're going to get into examples, but if you have any physical or mental challenge that will get in the way of your ability to do the test, not due to your English ability, right? But it's another thing that gets in the way. IELTS will help you with this. This will not get in the way of you getting a great score.

Exactly. So some examples of things that arrangements could be made for, if you have a broken arm or hand, for example. Yeah. If you have a long-term illness or physical condition like diabetes, if you have a specific learning difficulty like Wolfgang's, all of these are included. Mm-hmm.

Or ADHD, if there's a neurodivergent issue, which has become a hot topic these days, neurodivergence. We're not going to go into that now. Google it, guys, because we have a lot more to get to. Or even if

What if you're feeding an infant? What if you're a new mother, right? All of these things are challenges to you getting the score you need, regardless of your English ability. Before we get into more specifics, guys, we need to tell you though, that if you are experiencing an issue that you need special access arrangements for, you must submit a doctor's note or other proof.

at least six weeks before your test date. And it does have to be submitted directly to the test administrator for the local test center in which you'll be taking the exam.

Yes. And for each of these things that we listed, there are different arrangements. So whichever you need access for, you can go to IELTS.org for details. Today, we'll share specifics for dyslexia or something related so that you can know more because there are lots of different access arrangements that can be made. For example, modified papers in large print or Braille because, you know, if someone is

deaf or has issues with sight there will definitely be arrangements made for that as well yeah exactly yeah it is very impressive the extent that the exam goes to to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to excel on this test right um even if there are photographs in a reading passage for example there will be braille descriptions provided for those photographs

for the listening test. If there are hearing issues, there will be accommodations made, right? If there are deaf students. - Exactly, maybe recordings for listening tests with more time between sections for other neurodivergencies.

And then, yeah, definitely extra time, supervised breaks for like the breastfeeding mother, anyone who might need that. You could also be provided a reader or a scribe, and you might be able to use personal assistive technology. So there are a lot of different options, but like Jessica said, it's vital that you contact IELTS six weeks at least before your exam. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Okay. So let's get...

Let's get into Wolfgang's problem a little bit more regarding dyslexia. Now, a lot of this information that we're going to describe would apply to other learning difficulties as well. But again, we're focusing on the dyslexia aspect today.

Yeah. So the test center will first ask for details about your specific learning difficulty. And they're also going to confirm the deadline to book your test. So this is going to depend on your specific situation, what you need. But it definitely is going to be up to six weeks before the exam. And then they're going to make any specific arrangements that you need in order to take the test at the level of success that everyone else can take it.

Yeah. A major reason for this is because it does take most test centers a while to, it can take them a while to prepare for something like this because they might not have the resources on hand that are needed in these special arrangements. Unfortunately, a lot of people with

that we're discussing today, they don't have this information. They don't know that they can request special arrangements. And so frankly, it just, it doesn't happen that often. In my 14 years of experience,

I was part of a special access arrangement twice in my 14 years and I know for a fact there were a lot more students that needed it but didn't ask for it right so advocate for yourselves and now that you are aware that this is a possibility because that's most often the case that someone who needs some of these arrangements is not aware that they can ask for them exactly exactly um of course because it does take the test center more time and resources they will

Demand supporting information. So we did mention doctor's notes, right? What's some more specific supporting information, for example, for like a learning difficulty? Yes, you may be asked to provide the center with a report about your learning difficulty.

It will need to have been prepared when you are 13 years or older. So it couldn't be from your very young childhood years. It would need to have been updated. And, you know, they're going to be asking for assurance, you know, evidence basically of your specific learning difficulties that is obtained through recognized, validated tests, right? These tests must be official.

And I recognize the burden that this might place on a lot of students. But I mean, you have to recognize from the IELTS perspective, in order for them to give you extra time and resources, right? That would be an unfair advantage if you can't prove that you need them. So I know it's a burden on the test taker. But at the end of the day, IELTS does have to make sure that these special arrangements are needed. Yeah.

Yeah. And it also makes sense to me, I have children who have ADHD and they're diagnosed quite young, but a lot of these types of learning difficulties evolve, change as you get older. And so it would make sense to be, you know, to do these tests again at an older age to like find out, you know, how has it evolved? What are the changes? Yeah. It makes sense to me that IELTS asks for this. Totally.

What could you do with an advanced English certificate? Could you show it to potential employers? Maybe share it on your LinkedIn profile? The first step towards that impressive English certificate is free and fast. Get your free personalized English fluency score with our specialized eight question quiz and discover exactly what to focus on to reach your goals. Go now to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com

All right, let's get into the possible special access arrangements now. What can IELTS do to help our students? Yeah, we did kind of a brief overview of some of these. There are a lot of different ways that IELTS can support a student. So a lot of it will be you determining what you need and asking the center to make those arrangements.

And then once you've received permission, your answers, your tests will be marked in the same way as other test takers. So for example, if you make a spelling or grammar mistake, if you have dyslexia, that might be taken into account here. So the first access arrangement is extra time. You can normally ask for 25% more time for any paper.

Exactly. So for example, the reading should be 60 minutes. You'll be given 75 minutes, right? An hour and 15 minutes there.

If there is a more severe need, it will be considered to do more than 25% extra time. But again, that is rare. Something that is included in the extra time could be breaks, for example. And so extra time will be added because a neurodivergent

student might need breaks, right? They need, they can't take the stimulus or the rate of stimulus and output that other students might be able to do.

Right, exactly. And the second is extra time versions of the listening test. So if there are questions that require you to take notes and you need extra time to do this or cannot listen and take notes at the same time, then there would be different test versions that would be more suitable for you. Yeah, exactly. I mean, taking notes isn't, you know, we don't recommend that you take notes on the listening test, right? Right.

So I, this, this piece of advice can be a bit misleading, but I think the takeaway here is that there are other versions of the listening test. If you, um, due to dyslexia, if you cannot read the question and underline keywords and do all that stuff in that short amount of time that is usually expected, you'll be given extra time because again, it's not about your English ability. It's about your learning ability or your processing ability, I should say.

Exactly. So they may be able to stop the recording before parts of the test to give you extra time to read the questions. They may be able to stop the recording at certain points to give you enough time to write your answers or to transfer answers to your answer sheet. So this is the type of arrangements they can make just to give you equal footing with all the other test takers. Exactly. Exactly. And that extra time does include, um,

being allowed extra time to check your answers at the end of the test as well. So yes, that's awesome. Now the break time, I mentioned that as part of the extra time thing, but tell us about the supervised breaks. Yeah. So in addition to, or maybe instead of extra time actually taking the exam, you can ask for supervised breaks. And this would be time where you could stop writing and take a break alone in another room. That really would

Potentially help someone who is maybe having an anxiety attack for any reason, feeling, you know, having it be challenging to concentrate for long periods of time. And then you are supervised while you take that break.

It's interesting. I've seen this happen in more public schools around Portland where students get these special allowances and every elementary school that I've been in at least, and I've been in so many by now, they all have rooms for students to take breaks in that have a recognized need to do so. Often like ADHD students and other neurodivergent students will need breaks in order to be actually engaged and productive when they are in class.

So again, like these learning challenges, right? It's not just kids in elementary school. These challenges can exist for someone throughout their lives. And I think it's encouraging, frankly, that IELTS allows for this. Yes, exactly. I agree. I have a high school aged daughter who has this as part of her 504. So that's the plan that's written. Teachers and counselors are involved to make sure that we're giving them all of

the opportunities they have to be successful in school. And just like you said, Jessica, there's a special room if she needs to leave the room where she can go to like just take a break and gather her emotions or thoughts or just refocus because there are all kinds of things that can make it difficult to succeed in the classroom.

And we've talked about the difficulty in getting these special access arrangements for IELTS. I can assure you getting a 504 at a public school is- - That's no joke. - Whoa, it takes a long time and a lot of effort. So Aubrey, I applaud you 'cause I know the process is tedious. Okay, moving on. All right, what is the next special allowance here?

Yeah. So as far as writing your answers using a computer, if you are unable to write by hand, you can ask for permission to write your answers using a computer or word processor. You would not be able to use spell check or grammar check or like thesaurus functions, but you would be able to use the device in order to not have to write, even if it is the written example.

Yeah, I know. This seems weird now because we know there's a computer delivered version of IELTS at this stage. But there might not be one close to where you live, right? Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So the next special allowance, reading the question papers. What's that?

Yeah, so you know, you must read question papers yourself. And this may take you longer. But you may be allowed to have someone read them to you a reader, or use a computer with screen reading software. So both of these allowances would make a huge difference.

Yes. Awesome. All right. Let's move on to the special allowance support to fill in your answer sheets. Let's move on to this one. What's that one about? Like, can I just ask someone to help me, you know, write the answers for me or what? Ooh, yeah, right. This is definitely, this is...

all of this is very systematic approved in advance. They're going to let you know how to do it. You can't be like, this is difficult for me. So I'm going to ask the person next to me to do this. That's not how it works. Right. But for listening and reading, you know, of course you have to copy or transfer your answers to an answer sheet and

and that is then scanned by a computer. So if this is challenging to either follow the numbers or order of questions, you may be allowed to write your answers on a separate piece of paper or directly on the question paper. So if you ask your center for advice prior to the test date, they can tell you the best option. Yeah.

And this next one I like. This one I actually did see a few times. Transparent colored overlays. This is one of the easiest resources that test centers have. It's pretty much guaranteed that your test center will have this. But anyway, you can ask for permission to use transparent colored overlays on overlays.

um test papers but more often on the computer screens right for people who are visually impaired or for some neurodivergent learners if there's an amount of um input right as far as like light and um that makes it difficult for them to process information these transparent colored overlays are usually an option at test centers

Interesting. And then next you can apply to have an enlarged print copy of an exam paper as my eyes are getting less sharp in my old head like this. But these are called modified large print papers that might make it more easier to take the exam. They just have enlarged font.

If you're 45 or older, you will need this. I think we told you guys this, but I turned 45 last week as we are recording this. And all of a sudden I needed glasses, which is funny because I was hanging out with a friend the next day and I noticed that the font size on his phone was like 200%. Like he

I was like, you can only see like two words on your screen at this point. It's like, yep. Well, that's the font size I need. I feel like throw on your glasses really quick so we can see them on YouTube. Jessica, if you guys are watching on YouTube, you can see Jessica's glasses. She doesn't wear them for the whole recording because our studio lights glare on them a little bit, but look how cute they are. I love them. Check it out. I'm so excited about my glasses. They're adorable. I love them.

All right, so let's wrap this up for today. Aubrey, what would you say to Wolfgang would be the takeaway for today's episode? Yeah, the best news is that IELTS will make accommodations if you need them. So six weeks before your exam date, at least, definitely contact the test center so you can provide the documentation you need to and receive the accommodations that will help you be successful on the exam.

Exactly. Awesome. All right, guys, thank you for listening today. I'm really happy we could bring you this information and hope that it has helped at least a few of you out there. So yeah, we'll see you. We'll see you next time. Awesome. See you next time. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash my score.