AARAs (Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments)

​​Year 11 and 12 AARAs

The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) recognises that some students have disability, impairment and/or medical conditions, or experience other circumstances that may be a barrier to their performance in assessment. Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments (AARA) are designed to assist these students.

Access arrangements are action/s taken by the school so that a student with an eligible impairment that may not be covered by the definition of disability can access assessment.

Reasonable adjustments are action/s taken by the school so that an eligible student with impairment as a result of disability and/or medical conditions or experiencing other circumstances creating a barrier to the completion of assessment can be assessed.

AARA Eligibility

AARA are provided to minimise, as much as possible, barriers for a student whose disability, impairment, medical condition or other circumstances may affect their ability to read, respond to or participate in assessment.

These barriers fall into three broad categories:

• permanent
• temporary
• intermittent

The QCAA uses broad application categories for AARA eligibility:

• cognitive
• physical
• sensory
• social/emotional

AARA Ineligibility

Students are not eligible for AARA on the following grounds:

• unfamiliarity with the English language
• teacher absence or other teacher-related difficulties
• matters that the student could have avoided (e.g. misreading an examination timetable, misreading instructions in examinations)
• timetable clashes
• matters of the student's or parent's/carer's own choosing (e.g. family holidays or sporting events)
• matters that the school could have avoided (e.g. incorrect enrolment in a subject).
  

List of AARAs

See Page 74 -78 of the QCE/QCIA Handbook for detailed list of AARAs