Special Examination Arrangements

Rationale:

A number of medical or psychological disorders affect a student’s ability to access the curriculum effectively or cause them to under-perform in timed assessments relative to their cognitive ability.

Therefore, case management of these primary and secondary students by schools may lead to them being provided with special conditions in order for them to be able to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills at a level commensurate with their performance in un-timed written or oral assessments.

Similarly, the School Curriculum Standards Authority (SCSA) of Western Australia provides Special Examination Arrangements (SEA) to Year 12 WACE students with an array of medical and psychological conditions.

These SEA are provided to allow for students whose long-term physical or psychological needs could prevent them from being assessed accurately if they were to be examined under standard conditions.

Students with neuropsychological disorders, such as Specific Learning Disorders, require mandatory assessments (e.g., WISC-V, WIAT-III, CTOPP-II), to support an application to the SCSA for SEAs if they are sitting their Year 12 WACE.

SEA Overview:

Students who may be eligible to receive SEA are those who have long-term physical or learning disabilities, or specific medical needs such as:

• Vision and/or Hearing Impairments.
• Physical Disabilities (e.g., Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy).
• Illness or injury (e.g., Diabetes, broken arm).
• Motor Disabilities (e.g., Developmental Coordination Disorder, Developmental Dyspraxia).
• Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs: i.e., Reading, Writing, or Mathematics).
• Neuropsychological Disorders (e.g., ADHD)
• Psychological Disorders (e.g., Anxiety, Depression).

The SEA available to students varies according to the respective disability and includes such things as:

• extra reading time
• additional working time
• food/medicine in examination
• provision of a scribe
• use of a computer
• specialised equipment/furniture

For some disorders, compulsory assessments of appropriate currency are required to support an SEA application and may include:

• A psychometric assessment (e.g., WISC-V, WAIS-IV).
• An assessment of reading ability (e.g., WIAT-III).

Conditions applying to SEA:

• The granting of special conditions in Grades 8-12 is at the school’s discretion.
• Students hoping to be awarded SEA for their WACE must formally apply to the SCSA.
• The granting of special conditions by a school does not guarantee automatic approval of SEA by the SCSA for the student’s WACE.
• Each SEA application must be supported by relevant medical/psychological/educational documentation.

If your child has a medical or psychological disorder, please contact PECS to find out if they are entitled to Special Examination Arrangements. Sometimes they can make a world of difference.

Click here to go to the Psychological and Educational Assessments page

Click here to go to the Assessment Batteries page