OralLanguageModifier

Handbook

2–OLMHandbook

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................3Purposeanduse............................................................................................................3Expectationsandchallenges..........................................................................................3

DefinitionofanOralLanguageModifier........................................................4WhatisanOralLanguageModifier(OLM)?....................................................................4WhatistheroleofanOLM?..........................................................................................4Languagemodifiedversionofexaminationpapers........................................................5WhatanOLMisnot.......................................................................................................5

WhocanactasanOLM?...............................................................................6

ProcessFlowchart.........................................................................................7

Preparingforassessment..............................................................................8Teachingrolevsmodifyingrole.....................................................................................8TheOLMandotherstaffshould:...................................................................................8Modificationfunctions..................................................................................................8

Howthingsaredifferentatexamtime..........................................................9Thecandidateshouldhavebeentaughtrelevantsubject-specificvocabulary:...............9

ApplyingtotheAwardingBody...................................................................10Contributetothediscussionofthecandidate’sneeds.................................................10Collect,collateandstoreevidence...............................................................................10TheOLMneedstounderstand:....................................................................................10Knowledgeofthesystem.............................................................................................10

Makingtheapplicationintime....................................................................12

ConductingAssessment...............................................................................12Carrierlanguageandtechnicallanguage......................................................................12TheOLMneedstobeableto:......................................................................................13Modifyinstructionallanguage/commandwordsandphrases......................................14

Summaryofexaminationissues..................................................................15Forthecandidateatexamtime...................................................................................15FortheOLMatexamtime...........................................................................................15Considerthefollowing:................................................................................................15

FeedingBackafterAssessment....................................................................16CompleteModification:Coversheet............................................................................16

3–OLMHandbook

Introduction

Purposeanduse

1. ThisdocumentisdesignedforusebyOralLanguageModifiers(OLMs)whoareworkingwiththeawardingbodiesinEngland,WalesandNorthernIrelandwhoofferGeneralQualifications(e.g.GCSEandGCE)

2. Thisdocumentdoesnothavestatutorystatus.Rather,itprovidespracticalguidanceonhowthelanguageofexaminationscanbemodifiedtogiveallcandidatesthefairestpossibleopportunitiestodemonstratesubjectattainment.

3. ThisdocumentgivessomeadviceontheprocessesinvolvedinOralLanguageModification.ItisintendedtobeusedwiththedocumententitledOLMGuidanceExamples.

4. Thisdocumentoffersaresourcetoreinforcegoodpracticeandsupportcontinuingprofessionaldevelopment.IndividualscanusethematerialinthisdocumentandintheOLMGuidanceExamplestorefinetheirownskills.Buildinguptheknowledgeandskillsrequiredtobeabletoadaptmanydifferentformsofexaminationwilltakesometime.Maintainingtheintegrityoftheexaminationwhilehelpingcandidateswithlanguagedifficultiesachievethebesttheycanisadelicatebalance.ThissetofdocumentsisdesignedtohelpOLMstofindandkeepthisbalance.

Expectationsandchallenges

5. ItisexpectedthattheroleoftheOLMwilldevelopovertimeandthattheprofessionaldevelopmentoftheOLMwillsupporttheneedsofanincreasinglywiderangeofcandidateswhowouldotherwisefindthelanguageofexaminationabarrier.

6. TheOLMwillbeexpectedtodemonstratethehighestprofessionalstandardswhenworkingwithcandidates.TheOLMshouldbeawareofanychangesmadeintheregulationsoftheJointCouncilforQualifications(JCQ)‘AccessArrangementsandReasonableAdjustments’.

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DefinitionofanOralLanguageModifier

WhatisanOralLanguageModifier(OLM)?

TheOralLanguageModifier(OLM)isarolecreatedtoprovideareasonableadjustmentinexaminationsforcandidateswhorequirealeveloflanguagesupportbeyondthatprovidedbyareader.

ThisrolewasoriginallyprovidedfordeafcandidateswhosepreferredlanguagewasEnglish.(Youmightknowthisrolebyitsformertitleof“OralCommunicator”)

Ithassincebeenextendedtoprovideforothercandidateswhohaveaspecificreadingcomprehensionorlanguagedifficulty.

Forexaminations,JCQregulationsallowanOLMtobeprovidedforcandidatesinGCSE,GCE,FunctionalSkills,EntryLevelassessmentsandotherslistedonthefirstpageoftheregulations.

“AnOralLanguageModifierisaresponsibleadultwhomayclarifythecarrierlanguageusedintheexaminationpaperwhenrequestedtodosobyacandidate.

TheOralLanguageModifiermustnotexplaintechnicaltermsorsubject-specificterms.Theabilitytounderstandthesetermsispartoftheassessment.”

Theseregulationsmaychangeforfutureexaminations.

WhatistheroleofanOLM?

TheOLMisallowedtoexplainorre-phrasethecarrierlanguageinanexaminationpapertoclarifythemeaningforthecandidate.

TheOLMcancheckthatthecandidatehasunderstoodtherubricandcanrespondifthecandidateisconfusedbythemeaningofaparticularquestion.

TheOLMmustnotre-phraseorexplainanysubject-specificortechnicalterm.Equally,theOLMshouldnotchangecommandwordsorsourcematerial.(SeeAppendix1oftheOLMGuidanceExamples)

CandidatesusinganOLMmustbeabletodemonstratethesamesubjectskills,knowledgeandconceptsasothercandidates.Explainingsubject-specificortechnicalvocabularywouldthereforecompromisethedemandsofthequestionandmayconstitutemalpractice.

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Languagemodifiedversionofexaminationpapers

AlanguagemodifiedpapershouldberequestedforcandidatesrequiringanOLM.Usuallypapersaremodifiedatsourcebytheawardingbody.Inmostcases,thismeansthataspecialistinmodificationwillhavemadesuggestionsaboutlanguagebeforethepaperisfinalised.Suchapaperisthusmodifiedforallcandidates.

Ifsuchapaperisnotavailablewhenamodifiedpaperisrequested,theawardingbodywillusuallyarrangeforateacherqualifiedinlanguagemodificationtomodifythespecificpapersrequested.LanguagemodifiedpapersshouldreducetheincidenceofacandidateaskinganOLMforclarification,althoughevenawellmodifiedpapermaycontaincarrierlanguagethatthecandidatefindsinaccessible.

WhatanOLMisnot

TheroleofanOLMisdifferentfromthatofareader.Areadercanonlyreadthequestionsandcannotre-phraseorexplainthecarrierlanguage.AnOLMshouldonlyberequestedifthecarrierlanguageofexaminationsislikelytobeinaccessibleevenifthequestionsarereadoutaloud.

AnOLMmayactasareaderifthecandidaterequestsit.

AnOLMisdifferentfromaSignLanguageInterpreter.

ASignLanguageInterpreter’staskistopresentwritteninformationinsignlanguagewithoutmodificationorexplanation.DeafcandidateswhouseEnglishastheirpreferredlanguagewouldnotusuallybenefitfromaSignLanguageInterpreter.Manydeafcandidates,however,havelanguagedifficultiesandanOLMwouldbeappropriate.TheOLMappointedshouldspeakclearlyandtheirlipsmustbevisible.TheOLMshouldbesomeonefamiliartothecandidate.

IfusingmanuallycodedEnglish,anOLMmustrecordthemeansofcommunicationonthecoversheet.ThiswouldincludefingerspellingorSignSupportedEnglish,butitmustreflectthewaythatthecandidateisnormallytaught.

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WhocanactasanOLM?

- TheOLMmustbeappointedbythecentre- TheOLMmustbeabletodistinguishbetweencarrierlanguageandsubject-specific

language- TheOLMmustbeabletoexplainandre-phrasethecarrierlanguageofaparticular

question- TheOLMmustbeawareoftheregulationsandproceduresrelatingtoOLM- TheOLMshouldbefamiliartothecandidate.Insomecasesthismaybeessential.

Forexample,adeafcandidatewhoreliesonlip-readingafamiliarfaceoracandidatewithanautisticspectrumdisorderwhomightbedisturbedbyanunfamiliarhelper.(IftheOLMisnotfamiliartothecandidate,thecandidateshouldhavetheopportunityofatrialpresentationtogettoknowtheappointedOLM)

- TheOLMshouldhavehadtrainingandgainedaccreditationinlanguagemodification.Theyshouldhavesomeknowledgeofthetheoriesunderpinningthelanguagemodificationprocessandthestrategiesinvolved

- TheOralLanguageModifiershouldhaveaLevel3qualificationinEnglish,ClassicsorModernLanguages.Changingexaminationwording“onthespot”canbechallengingandtheOLMmusthavethepersonalskillstodothis

- TheOLMshouldhavesomeknowledgeorexperienceofthesubjectmatterbeingassessedintheexamination.ThismightbedifficultbuttheOLMdoesneedtoknowwhichwordsaresubject-specific.Papersmayopenedupto1hourearlyforsubject-specificwordstobehighlighted.

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PreparingforAssessment

ConductingAssessment

Feeding backafterAssessment

ProcessFlowchart

Workingwithotherstaff

Workingwiththecandidate

Preparingthecandidate

Guidingthecandidatesunderstanding

Originalsourcematerialorquestion

Whataretheproblems?

Couldmaterialbemoreclearlywritten?

Howmightyourephrasethings?

Willthisworkinanoral/signingcontext?

Whoneedstoknow?

Usingfeedbacktoinformprepararation

8–OLMHandbook

Preparingforassessment

Teachingrolevsmodifyingrole

Itisexpectedthatthecandidatewillbepreparedinadvanceoftheexaminationsothatthecandidateisawareofthedifferentrolesperformedbyteacher,supportworkerandOLM.TheOLMmaybeinvolvedinhelpingwiththispreparation.

MostOLMswillbefamiliartothecandidateastheyalreadyrelatetoher/himinateachingorsupportrole.Itcouldbeunsettlingforacandidatewhoisusedtobeingdirectedtoananswerinclasstobetoldinanexaminationthathelpcan’tbegiven(excepttore-phraseaparticularquestion).Itishelpfulforacandidatetoknowwhattoexpectintheexamination,andhowsupportintheseconditionswillbedifferent.

Itisveryimportantthatthecandidateknowsthatthesamepersonmighthavedifferentroles.TheOLMmightbesomeonewhoworkswiththelearneronadailybasis.Thecandidateneedstounderstandthatinexamconditionsthisrelationshipwillbedifferentfromtherelationshipinclass.

TheOLMandotherstaffshould:

- Preparethecandidatetoexpectchangeintheroleandfunctionofsupportstaff- Preparethecandidatetoactasacandidateaswellasalearner

Modificationfunctions

- Preparethecandidatetodiscriminatebetweensupportfunctionsandmodificationfunctions

- Guidethecandidatetounderstandtheimpactofinstructionalverbsandfrequentlyusedexaminationwords.Helpthemtoidentifycommonsubject-specificvocabulary.

- Encouragethecandidatetoindicatespecificallywhathelptheyneed- Makethecandidatemoreawareoftheroleofsourcematerials.(e.g.abookletof

sourcesforahistorypapermightbeconfusingtoacandidatewhoisnotfamiliarwiththatparticularformat)

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Howthingsaredifferentatexamtime

Iamadifferentpersoninexams(theOLM)

- Icanonlyhelpincertainways- Ican’tgiveyouclueslikeIdoinlessons- Ican’tgiveyouexampleslikeIdoinlessons- Ican’ttellyouifyouranswersarerightorwrong- Ican’tcheckyourworktoseeifyouhaveunderstood- Icansaythequestionsadifferentwayifyouareconfused,buttherearesomewords

Ican’tchange

Youareadifferentpersoninexams(thecandidate)

- Youcan’twalkaround- Youcan’tusethecomputertolookthingsup- Youhavetoleaveyourbagoutside.Youcanonlytakewhatyouneedfortheexam

(suchasapenandpencil).Nobooksormobilephone- Youmustbequietandputyourhandupifyouneedhelp- It’syourjobtothink“DoIunderstand?”andindicatethatyouneedhelpifyou’renot

surewhataquestionmeans

Thecandidateshouldhavebeentaughtrelevantsubject-specificvocabulary:

- InaScienceexam,forexamplecandidateswouldbeexpectedtoknowthedifferencebetweenadependentandindependentvariable

- InDesignTechnology,theywouldbeexpectedtoknowwhatdesigncriteriaare

ThecandidateshouldnotexpecttohavesuchwordsandphrasesexplainedbyanOLM.

Similarlytheyshouldnotexpecttohavesourcematerialmodified.Sourcematerialtendstobeoriginalandmightbeanextractfromabook,aletter,aleafletetc.Thecandidateshouldbepreparedbystudyingsourcematerialbeforetheexamination.

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ApplyingtotheAwardingBody

Contributetothediscussionofthecandidate’sneeds

BeforeapplyingtotheawardingbodyforanOLM,anAccessArrangementsAssessororTeacheroftheDeafwillassessanddiscussthecandidate’sneeds.Itmaybethatareader,forexample,isamoreappropriatereasonableadjustmenttoapplyfor.SincethepersonactingastheOLMislikelytobeemployedattheschoolorcentre,theyshouldbeinvolvedinthesediscussionsatanearlystage.

Collect,collateandstoreevidence

Evidencethatthecandidatehasasignificantlanguageneedshouldberecorded.Ifthecandidatehasaspecifickindofhelpinclass,thattooshouldbenotedasitisessentialtorecord,fileandkeepforinspectioninformationthatshowsthattheapplicationreflectsthenormalwayofworking.AnOLMcannotbeused,forexample,ifthecandidatedoesnotnormallyreceivehelpwithlanguage/comprehensioninlessons.

TheAssessororTeacheroftheDeafmustalsoshowthatthecandidatehasreadingcomprehensionorvocabularyinthewellbelowaveragerange(69orlessstandardisedscore)asmeasuredbyastandardisedtest.Thismustbecarriedoutwithin26monthsofthefinalexaminationseries.Involvementwithparents/carers

TheOLMmightbeinvolvedindiscussingwithparentsthereasonableadjustmentstobeappliedfor.ParentsshouldbeassuredthattheadjustmentswillbenefittheirchildandthatfinalcertificateswillnotstatethatanOLMhasbeenused.

TheOLMneedstounderstand:

- theprocessofusingtheevidencenecessary- theappropriateformatforevidence- howtomaketheapplication,usingtherulesandguidancetohelp

Knowledgeofthesystem

- TheSENCoorSpecialistTeacherwouldbeexpectedtoidentifychildrenwithspecialneedsasearlyaspossible,liaisingwithfeederschoolsbeforetransition.ManycentreshaveCognitiveAbilityTests(CATs)inY7.ResultsfromsuchtestscouldbeusefultotheOLM.

- TheAssessorwouldneedtochoosesuitableassessmentsforindividualstudentsand,afterassessment,identifytheaccessarrangementsneededforeachchildwithspecialeducationalneeds.

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- TheAssessorwillliaisewiththeSENCoconcerningaccessarrangementsrequired.UsuallytheSENCowillapplyonlineat‘AccessArrangementsOnline’(AAO)foranyAccessArrangementsormodifiedpapersneededbythecandidate.

- TheSENCowillreceiveimmediatenotificationthroughAAOastowhetherthearrangementhasbeenapproved.

- TheExaminationsOfficer,onbehalfoftheheadofthecentre,appointsinvigilators,readers,OLMsetc.andmakesthemawareoftheirresponsibilities.Itisimportantthatthepersonchosenissuitablyqualified,knowledgeableandhastheinterpersonalskillsnecessaryforthejob

Forfurtherguidancesee:

JCQregulations:AccessArrangementsandReasonableAdjustments

http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance

JCQForm8:ApplicationforAccessArrangements

http://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/forms

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Makingtheapplicationintime

ItisessentialthatapplicationforAccessArrangementsandreasonableadjustmentsaremadeintime.TheOLMmightbeinvolvedinhelpingtoensurethattheSENCogetstherequiredinformationwellbeforedeadlinesarereached.

SENCosshouldapplyforAccessArrangementsbeforeanexaminationseriesstarts.ThedeadlineforapplicationsforthesummerexaminationseriesinMay/Juneis21stFebruary.Onlyifthereisagenuinereasoncanapplicationsbemadeafterthisdate.Deadlinesforlanguagemodifiedpapers(anOLMcandidatemusthaveamodifiedpaper)arenotflexible,sotheOLMandSENConeedtobeawareofthesedeadlines.

TheremayalsobetheneedfortheOLMtobeavailablewhencontrolledornon-examinedassessmentsaretakingplace.

ConductingAssessment

Carrierlanguageandtechnicallanguage

Earlyopeningofapaperallowsforsubject-specificwordsandphrasestobehighlighted.TheOLMshouldhaveher/hisowncopyoftheexampaperwhichcanbephotocopiedifnecessaryatthistime.TheOLMmustbequiteclearwhatissubject-specificlanguageandwhatiscarrierlanguage.Ifunsure,therelevantwordsorphrasesshouldnotbemodified.

Itisnotalwaysobviouswhichwordsaresubject-specific:

- “Locate”caninmostinstancesbechangedto“find”butinGeographyitisasubject-specifictermthatcannotbemodified

- “Error”couldsometimesbechangedto“mistake”butnotinsubjectssuchasScienceorStatisticswhereithasadifferentmeaningandissubject-specific

- InHistory,acandidateshouldbeawareoftheterm“primaryevidence”butmightbeconfusedifthiswerechangedto“first-handinformation”

Sincecandidatesaretaughtsubject-specificvocabulary,theOLMcouldbeputtingacandidateatadisadvantagebychangingtheseterms.

Equally,anOLMmaybeinadvertentlygivingthecandidateanadvantagebymodifyingsubject-specificterms.Doingthiscouldmakethequestioninvalid.

OLMswhouseasignwithacandidatewhoisdeafmustbeespeciallycareful.If,forexample,theword“triangle”appearedinthemodificationofaMathsquestion,itwouldhavetobefingerspelledasthesigncouldgiveanunfairadvantage.Manysignsfortechnical

13–OLMHandbook

wordsindicatethemeaningoftheword-helpwhichwouldnotusuallybeavailabletoacandidate.

OLMsmayalsousetheearlyopeningtimetoconsiderhowtheymightmodifycarrierlanguagetheythinkisconfusing.Theymustremember,however,thattheycannotmodifyunlessacandidatehasindicatedaneedforhelpwiththewordingofaparticularquestion.

TheOLMneedstobeableto:

- determinethedifferencebetweencarrierlanguageandsubject-specificlanguageindifferentcontexts

- showhowthesamewordcanbebothcarrierlanguageandsubject-specificlanguageindifferentcontexts

- understandthepurposeofsourcematerials.Thesemustnotbemodified.

Sourcematerialsareoftenusedtosupportexaminationpapers.Theymayincludeletters,maps,charts,extracts,etc.Theyarerelevanttoanexaminationtaskbutwerecreatedforanotherpurpose.Sourcematerialcanusuallyberecognisedbyanacknowledgementthatisprintednexttoite.g.‘ExtractfromapoembyWilfredOwen,1917’.Sourcematerialmustnotbemodifiedunderanycircumstances.

TherewillbeinstanceswherestimulusmaterialhasbeenwrittenbythePrincipalExaminer.(Thiswillusuallybeidentifiedas“original”orsimplyappearwithoutasourcereferenceatall.)Readabilityshouldhavebeenconsideredduringtheprocessofwritingthestimulusmaterial.TheOLMshouldnotmodifysuchmaterial,evenifitisexaminer-generated.

Modifythegrammarofthecarrierlanguage

TheOLMshouldbeabletorecognisewhencomplexlanguagestructuresexist.Inturn,theOLMshouldbeabletomodifyandsimplifythelanguagewhileretainingthelevelofconceptualdifficultyofthequestion.

- TheOLMmustrememberthatamodifiedquestionshouldrequirethesamesubjectskills,knowledgeandconceptsastheoriginalquestionandenablethecandidatetomeetthesameassessmentobjectives

- TheOLMshouldbeabletorecognisegrammaticalstructureswhicharedifficultforweakreaders.Theseincludesubordinateclauses,passiveverbs,negatives,adverbialconnectorsandellipses.(SeeexamplesintheaccompanyingOLMGuidanceExamplesdocument)

- IftheOLMisrequiredtomodify,theOLMshouldconsiderthewholequestion,itsmeaningandtheanswerthatisexpected

14–OLMHandbook

- TheOLMshouldbeawarethatitmaybenecessarytomodifyparagraphsorfullsentences,ratherthanindividualwordsorphrasestomakethequestionaccessible

- Longquestionsmayneedconsiderablere-structuringbuttheOLMmustneitherintroducenorinterferewithquestionnumbering

- Thereisno“rightanswer”toamodification.TheOLMissuccessfulwhenabletogiveamodifiedversionthatthecandidateunderstands,whichdoesnotalterthemeaningandwhichdoesnotunfairlyadvantagethecandidate

Modifyinstructionallanguage/commandwordsandphrases

TheOLMneedstobeawarethatsomecommandwordsdemandhigherorderresponsesthanothercommandwords.

Example

ListthreecitiesthatyoucouldvisitifyouwereinFrance

Thisisthesimplestlevelofdemand.Itrequiresonlytherecallofknowledge.

EvaluatetheimportanceofParistotheFrenchpeople

isaquestionrequiringtheveryhighestorderskills.

Thereisawell-definedhierarchyofsuchskillsandthewordsassociatedwiththem.ThiscanbefoundinAppendix1oftheaccompanyingOLMGuidanceExamples.

ItisimportantthattheOLMisawareoffrequentlyusedexaminationwordsthatshouldnotbechanged.ThesupportingdocumententitledOLMGuidanceExamplescontaindetailedinformationonthistopic.

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Summaryofexaminationissues

Forthecandidateatexamtime

- Isitclearwhichquestionsyouhavetoanswer?- Isitclearwhatyouhavetodo?- Ifyouhaveachoice,areyousureyouhavepickedthebestquestion(s)toanswer?- Makeitcleartomeifyouarenotsurewhatyouhavetodo- Ifyouarenotsurewhataquestionmeans,thenmakeclearthatyouneedhelp,but

rememberIcan’tchangewordstodowiththesubjectandcan’thelpyouwiththeanswer

FortheOLMatexamtime

- Makesurethecandidateunderstandswhatisexpectedandunderstandstherubric- Lookthroughthequestions.Youcanopenthepaperanhourinadvancetohighlight

subject-specificvocabularyandcommandwordsthatyoumustnotmodify.Itmighthelptoworkthroughasparecopyofthepaperto,forexample,identifypotentiallyproblematiclanguage.Itmustbestressed,however,thatanOLMcanonlymodifyinanexaminationifthecandidatemakesclearthathe/shedoesnotunderstandthewordingofaspecificquestion.

Considerthefollowing:

- Howmightthesequestionsberephrased?- Istheinformationseparatefromthequestion?- Arethesentencestoolong?Isthereanyirrelevantinformationyoucanignore?(be

careful!)- Whatistheexamineraskingthecandidatetodo?Whatkindofanswerisexpected?- Areyouawareofanysubject-specificlanguagethatcan’tbechanged?- Areyouawareofanysourcematerialthatcan’tbechanged?

Ifacandidateindicatestheneedforhelp,makesureyouareawareofwhatyoucanandcannotdotohelp.

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FeedingBackafterAssessment

CompleteModification:Coversheet

TheOLMneedstobeableto:

- Writeaccuratedescriptionsthatreflectwhathastakenplace- Completetheformaccordingtotheregulationsandguidance- EnsuretheExaminationsOfficerandinvigilatorsunderstandandareawareofwhat

hasbeendone- Makethecoversheetavailabletoallthosewhoneedtoknow(ExaminationsOfficer;

invigilator,JCQinspector,subjectstaff)

Beforetheexamstarts,theOLMshouldexplainhis/herroletotheinvigilator.

Duringtheexam,invigilatorsshouldbeinapositiontolistenintothemodificationsundertakeninordertomaintainaccountability.Inorderthatarecordofmodificationsisavailableforlaterreference,acopyofthecompletedformneedstobekeptbytheExaminationsOfficeratthecentre.

TheOLMmightfindithelpfultotakeroughnotesastheymakemodificationsthroughouttheexam,andfillinJCQForm6Aaftertheexamhasfinished.

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CharteredInstituteofEducationalAssessorsUniversityofHertfordshireTheSchoolofEducationHatfieldAL109ABwww.ciea.org.uk