Best Practice

GCSE and A levels: Access arrangements in exams for EAL learners

GCSEs and A Levels Examinations & Qualifications EAL
Access arrangements are available for students who use English as an additional language and not all of them need approval. Glynis Lloyd looks at the rules in place and how we can prepare learners for using arrangements in the most effective way
Image: Adobe Stock

Schools have seen an increase in the number of multilingual learners who use English as an additional language (EAL). Many of these learners are new arrivals who are new to English and new to the English education and exam systems.

If they have been enrolled for GCSEs, they are likely to achieve better with special arrangements in place. But for many schools, providing these access arrangements for learners using EAL is a new challenge.

 

A diverse group

Multilingual learners are a very diverse group, with a wide range of proficiency in English. In addition to language challenges, being a new arrival in England with no knowledge or experience of the English schooling and exam systems puts them at a disadvantage in assessment that is designed for their English monolingual peers.

As year 11s approach their exams, schools may be seeking clarity about the arrangements available to them – or you may already be planning ahead for next year’s cohort.

Good communication and cooperation between teachers, the EAL coordinator and SENCO will allow schools to make use of all the opportunities available to learners using EAL, thereby reducing the pressure of high-stakes exams and helping to lessen the cognitive load.

Where schools don’t have an EAL coordinator and these duties fall to the SENCO or inclusion lead, for example, they will need to engage with the updated arrangements in order to give EAL learners the latest available support in exams.

Robust admission systems for new arrivals will help schools to make informed decisions about which exams to enter them for and how best to prepare them.

Information about a learner’s previous education, proficiency in their preferred language, and in English, and curriculum knowledge will help teachers to establish access arrangements in exams as a learner’s normal way of working, introduce access arrangements in class assessments, and provide the EAL coordinator and SENCO with information so that they can apply for appropriate external access arrangements in time.

 

Access arrangements for learners using EAL

The Joint Council for Qualifications has updated access regulations covering the period between September 2023 to August 2024. The various documents (see further information for links) contain the requirements for SENCOs and EAL coordinators, the full range of arrangements available, deadlines for applications, and whether and how applications need to be made. The main arrangements that apply directly to EAL learners are:

 

1, Bilingual translation dictionary

Candidates can use bilingual translation dictionaries in certain exams, regardless of how long they have been in the country, if their first language is not English, Irish or Welsh and if this reflects their “normal way of working” in their daily school routine.

Importantly, the school does not need to apply for this, nor record the use of the dictionary. For guidance on administering this arrangement, see the document Instructions for conducting examinations (JCQ, 2023a). Section 14 of this document (p30) details arrangements which can be provided to a candidate at the time of his/her examinations without prior approval.

The dictionary can be an electronic or hard copy paper version but may not have pictures or explanations or clarifications of words. Bilingual translation dictionaries may not be used in GCSE subjects that assess spelling, punctuation and grammar.

For this arrangement to be as effective as possible, learners need to have good subject vocabulary knowledge in their preferred language and time in class to practise using the dictionary efficiently.

 

2, Bilingual translation dictionaries with 25% extra time

Candidates who entered the UK within three years of the examination(s), were assessed as being new to English (band A) at the time of their arrival, and for whom English is not a language spoken in the family home may be entitled to 25% extra time in addition to the use of a bilingual dictionary.

A clause recognising that learners “placed in a foster home upon arriving in the UK would not be considered living in their family home” means that learners who are unaccompanied asylum-seekers or are living with English-speaking families through the Homes for Ukraine scheme, for example, are still entitled to the extra time as well as the dictionary.

The JCQ publishes a full list of deadlines for applications in their guidance each year (for this academic year, the deadline was March 21).

A new arrangement stipulates that in subjects where a bilingual dictionary is not permitted, 25% extra time will still be available provided the candidate meets the requirements.

Where an application for extra time with a bilingual dictionary has been approved, the SENCO can authorise 25% extra time for the subjects where a dictionary is not allowed. You can refer to the stipulations for these arrangements in the JCQ document Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments – pages 72-73 (JCQ, 2023b).

 

What about learners using EAL who also have SEND?

Multi-lingual learners using EAL may be refugees or children seeking asylum and may have mental health needs. If a learner has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place, they qualify for arrangements such as supervised rest breaks or alternative rooming arrangements, such as a smaller room.

EAL coordinators and SENCOs should communicate regularly and consider how rest breaks and extra time, for example, could help EAL learners suffering from trauma.

For extra time, the SENCO needs to supply a formal diagnosis of social, emotional, and mental health needs (SEMH). For the full list of arrangements for learners with SEMH needs, see JCQ (2023b – p24).

Applications for access arrangements for late arrivals can be submitted as late as year 11. This underlines the need for schools to be doing thorough, on-going assessment of language proficiency in the learner’s preferred language and English, and in communicating regularly with families about their child’s needs and about decisions around access arrangements.

JCQ’s editable information sheet, available to download (see key JCQ documents in further information) is a useful starting point but is likely to need careful translation and/or discussion with families.

Where a multilingual learner using EAL is on the SEND register, and qualifies for additional access arrangements, this should be managed by the SENCO and coordinated with subject teachers who are embedding additional ways of working with a bilingual dictionary and/or extra time, in their subject.

 

How can teachers prepare learners using EAL to get the most out of access arrangements?

Teachers can train learners to make strategic use of a dictionary, by:

  • Identifying key words in an exam question and using the dictionary to confirm the meaning where they need to.
  • Scanning a text and identifying key words to look up.
  • Using knowledge of etymology, including word roots, prefixes and suffixes, to access meaning – for example of a word like decompression, where only compress appears in the dictionary.
  • Using the dictionary strategically as they construct their answers.

These strategies will help learners get the most out of a dictionary, without wasting precious time looking up each new word they encounter in a text or question. The Bell Foundation resource Bilingual dictionaries (see further information) offers additional guidance.

Teachers should make sure that learners use the same approved dictionary throughout so that they are familiar with it and don’t waste time in the exam making sense of an unfamiliar layout.

Learners who have JCQ approval for 25% extra time should regularly be given that time in class tests and mock exams so that they learn to pace themselves accordingly.

 

What language strategies can teachers share to support EAL learners?

Secondary schools are adept at teaching academic literacy and are likely to be able to draw on good practice already in the school for modelling how to weave proficiency in English into planning and teaching. These familiar strategies are particularly helpful:

  • Skim read the text and predict what it is about: Skimming the text title, any sub-headings, looking at images (such as diagrams and photographs) and reading captions helps readers to gain a global sense of the text. Readers can then predict what the text is about and read with greater understanding.
  • Read the text more than once: Use the translation dictionary to find the meaning of key words and to deepen an understanding of what it is about.
  • Scan the text for key words: To find information for answers.
  • Use context to work out the meaning of new words: Reread the sentence the word is in, then the paragraph, and use visual clues, such as illustrations, to work out the meaning of a new word.
  • Recognise subject-specific language: Subject teachers can alert their students to the ways writers use language in their subject and provide lots of practice reading examples of texts like reports and accounts. Science teachers can focus on the use of the passive voice in reports for example. English teachers can focus on metaphorical language and the need for readers to “read between the lines” for meaning.

Teachers need to make sure that learners are familiar with the range of question types they are likely to encounter in the exam, including multiple-choice questions, drawing on sources to construct an answer, reading a diagram or graph, and including working in questions.

 

Final thoughts

Access arrangements can help to level the playing field for learners new to English. As such, schools should be up-to-date with the latest permitted arrangements.

Schools must also ensure they identify learners who need these arrangements, share information among all staff, and embed and rehearse exam access practices beforehand so that they become part of the learner’s normal way of working.

 

Further information & resources