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Disability and Dyslexia Service
  1. Disability and Dyslexia Service
  2. Guidance
  3. Alternative assessments
  4. Background to alternative assessments

Background to alternative assessments

Find out more about the background to alternative assessments and what they look to achieve. 

Examinations

Most Queen Mary students can expect to face at least some closed book exams during their academic programme and it is rare that any student would be able to obtain a Queen Mary University of London degree without having to take any examinations.

As such, it would be unusual for the university to agree to a student’s request to be exclusively assessed by methods other than timed examination.

Assessments

Modules should have their assessment methods clearly set out in course handbooks and on QM Plus (the university’s virtual learning environment) so that students can make informed decisions about whether or not the assessment methods on a given module are likely to be difficult for them to complete successfully.

The university’s academic regulations reflect this:

  • 2.12 Before registration, a student must ensure that their programme of study and modules are acceptable to them, and that they can meet the attendance, learning, and assessment requirements. Queen Mary cannot change programme or module regulations, requirements, or scheduling to meet the needs of an individual student.

Where a student’s disability or long-term medical condition makes meeting those assessment methods difficult or impossible they can make a request for an alternative assessment to either modify or replace the existing assessment methods. The provision of an alternative assessment, that is, a form of assessment substantially different to that specified for other students taking the module, is considered a reasonable adjustment under the terms of the Equality Act (2010) as it relates to disabled people (students, in this case).

Again, the university’s regulations reflect this:

  • 3.4 Exceptionally, Queen Mary may use its discretion to use assessment methods other than those detailed in the module specification for an individual student. This may occur as an adjustment for a student with a registered disability (on the advice of the Disability and Dyslexia Service) or when setting a resit or first sit assessment, subject to the following conditions:
    • i) the alternative assessment must involve some additional assessment activity that constitutes a justifiable and efficient assessment of the intended learning outcomes; and,
    • ii) a full statement of the alternative assessment methods, and the justification for their use, is approved by the Subject Examination Board Chair and submitted to the Academic Registry and Council Secretariat (ARCS).
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