This year, the number of students sitting exams in Scotland who received extra support increased by 27.5 per cent on 2019, the last time national external exams were run.
Meanwhile, the number of additional supports put in place - from extra time in the exam to allowing students to sit the exam outwith the main hall - increased by around a third.
Figures published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show that 25,705 learners received extra support during exam season this year, up from 20,160 in 2019 and 18,275 in 2018.
In terms of the number of different supports put in place, there were 187,000 so-called “assessment arrangements” put in place by schools and colleges this year, up from 142,120 in 2019 and 130,290 in 2018.
Support includes everything from students requiring a digital version of the exam paper (9,130) or using a word-processing package with a spellchecker (15,335), to students having someone to read them the exam questions (10,745) or write their answers for them (5,560).
They also include supervised breaks (2,670) and rest periods (3,710). Rest periods take place in the exam hall while supervised breaks involve the candidate leaving the exam hall accompanied by a member of staff.
An SQA document on assessment arrangements suggests that supervised breaks may be suitable for “candidates who experience anxiety and need to leave for fresh air” or candidates who “are diabetic and need to check blood sugar levels or consume food and drink”.
Rest breaks, it suggests, might be suitable for someone with chronic fatigue who would benefit from a break at regular intervals during an exam, perhaps 15 minutes every hour. The time taken for the breaks does not count towards the time allowed for the assessment.
However, by far the most common form of support was extra time (60,995) and separate accommodation (52,650).
The SQA advice for schools warns that too much extra time “may be tiring for the candidate and may ultimately disadvantage them”, but that it might be suitable for students with dyslexia who cannot write as quickly, or for students who have difficulty concentrating, or who are blind and use Braille.
Separate accommodation is used for students who require a scribe or a reader and whose conversation might disturb other candidates. It can also be used for those who would find the exam hall overwhelming due to anxiety and stress.
SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson revealed that the number of students receiving support to access exams had increased this year, when she gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on Wednesday.
Ms Robertson was asked how the SQA acted on the equalities monitoring data it collects, which includes data on the attainment gap, as well as the gap in attainment between students with and without additional support needs (ASN).
This year, the grade A-C attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students at Higher was 15 percentage points, compared with 7.8 percentage points last year and 16.9 percentage points the last time national exams were run in 2019.
At Higher, the grade A-C attainment gap between those with additional support needs and those without was 6.9 percentage points this year, compared with 5 percentage points last year and 7.4 in 2019.
Ms Robertson said the data on assessment arrangements showed that the SQA “absolutely play our part in making sure the arrangements for assessment are such that they recognise that some young people require additional support”.
