Reasonable adjustments in end-point assessment and apprenticeship assessment

The final assessment is where an apprentice’s adjustments are most likely to be lost. Training adjustments are often in place for months, but the assessment is run by a different organisation with its own policy, deadlines and evidence requirements. If nobody applies in time, the apprentice may sit their assessment without the support that let them reach it.

This guide explains how reasonable adjustments work in apprenticeship assessment after the 2025 reforms, who decides, what evidence helps and when to act. It is written for providers, with notes for employers. It is not legal advice.

What changed in apprenticeship assessment in 2025 and 2026?

The language and some responsibilities changed. Government guidance on changes to apprenticeship assessment sets out the new terms:

The reforms also allow assessment at any stage of the apprenticeship, not only at the end. Employers now verify behaviours. Providers play a greater role in readiness and in centre-based assessment, and for some standards may deliver and mark parts of the assessment. Assessment organisations remain responsible for developing all assessment materials. Skills England develops and approves assessment plans, and Ofqual regulates assessment organisations, with the Office for Students quality-assuring integrated higher and degree apprenticeships.

The sector is in transition through 2026 and 2027. Existing standard versions stay available until a revised version is released, so you will meet both “EPA” and “apprenticeship assessment” for a while. The 2026 to 2027 funding rules keep “end-point assessment” for standards not yet revised. In this guide we use “assessment” to mean both.

Skills England took over the functions of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education in 2025, and responsibility for apprenticeships and Skills England moved from DfE to DWP. Older IfATE guidance on EPA reasonable adjustments now redirects to Skills England, so rely on current assessment organisation policies and Ofqual’s rules.

Do apprentices have a right to reasonable adjustments in assessment?

Yes. Under section 96 of the Equality Act 2010, a duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to a qualifications body. Where an assessment is carried out by someone other than a qualifications body, it can fall under the employment services provisions instead. Either way, disabled apprentices are protected.

For regulated assessment, Ofqual’s General Conditions add two practical requirements:

• Condition G6: the awarding organisation must have clear arrangements for making reasonable adjustments, in line with equalities law, and publish how a learner qualifies and what adjustments will be made.
• Condition G7: it must have and publish clear arrangements for special consideration.

Ofqual’s apprenticeship assessment conditions, in force from 1 April 2026, also say that where a specific apprenticeship assessment requirement conflicts with making a reasonable adjustment or special consideration, the organisation may still provide the adjustment.

So the first practical step is simple: find and read your assessment organisation’s reasonable adjustments and special consideration policy.

What cannot be adjusted?

The competence itself. The Equality Act says the duty on a qualifications body does not include adjusting the application of a competence standard (Schedule 8, paragraph 15). A competence standard is a standard used to decide whether someone has a particular level of competence or ability.

The useful question is: what is actually being assessed? Then adjust everything that is not.

Some standards include a competence that genuinely depends on a particular skill, such as reading safety-critical information at speed. Even then, look carefully. Often only one element is fixed and everything around it can be adjusted. If you are unsure, ask the assessment organisation early and get its view in writing.

Which adjustments are common in apprenticeship assessment?

Adjustments should reflect the apprentice’s normal way of working during training. Common examples:

• extra time for timed tests, often 25%, with more where evidence supports it
• supervised rest breaks
• a reader, computer reader or text-to-speech software
• a scribe or speech-to-text software
• a separate or quieter room
• questions provided in writing as well as orally in a professional discussion
• British Sign Language interpreting or other communication support
• adapted formats such as enlarged print, coloured overlays or a different font
• assistive technology the apprentice already uses, checked for test security
• adjusted scheduling, such as a morning slot or splitting components across days where the plan allows

The DWP guidance on support for apprentices says learning support can fund reasonable adjustments for the apprenticeship assessment, and gives “enabling additional time on exams and tests” as an example cost. See learning support funding for apprenticeships.

What evidence will the assessment organisation want?

Usually two things: evidence of the need, and evidence that the adjustment is the apprentice’s normal way of working. Each organisation sets its own requirements, but strong applications usually include:

• a summary of the apprentice’s disability or learning difficulty and how it affects assessment, not a full medical history
• relevant assessment reports or an EHC plan extract, with the apprentice’s consent
• the support plan and review records showing which adjustments were used in training
• examples, such as timed tests where extra time was used and how much
• the apprentice’s own view of what helps
• any adjustments the employer makes in the workplace that are relevant to an observation

Provider records do most of the work here. If your plan shows that an apprentice used a reader in every knowledge check for 12 months, and the reviews show it helped, the application is straightforward. If the first mention of a reader is in the application, expect questions. Our guide to recording support delivery evidence explains how to build that record as you go.

When should you apply for assessment adjustments?

Earlier than you think. Use this timeline as a starting point and adjust it to your assessment organisation’s deadlines.

1. At the start. Record the assessment organisation in the training plan; the funding rules require it once known, and no later than 6 months before the planned end date. Ask for its reasonable adjustments policy and deadlines. Tell the apprentice how adjustments work in assessment.
2. Throughout training. Use the adjustments the apprentice will need in assessment in progress reviews and mock tasks, so they become the normal way of working. Record what helps.
3. Around 3 to 6 months before the gateway to completion. Agree the assessment adjustments with the apprentice. Prepare the evidence. Apply, or check the policy’s timescales if they are different.
4. At the gateway to completion. Confirm in writing what has been approved and brief the apprentice and employer.
5. Before each component. Check the arrangements are in place: room, equipment, software, reader or interpreter.
6. Afterwards. If something went wrong on the day, apply for special consideration under the organisation’s policy, within its deadline.

Under the reforms, some assessment may happen earlier in the programme. Where it does, this timeline starts earlier too.

What about the parts of assessment that providers deliver?

Where your organisation delivers or marks part of the assessment under a revised plan, you are part of the assessment process. Expect to follow the assessment organisation’s adjustments arrangements, keep records of what you provided, and avoid changing tasks in ways the plan does not allow. Ofqual’s conditions say centre adaptations to assessment tasks may relate only to context, such as available facilities or equipment, and must not affect validity, the skills assessed or the level of demand. Reasonable adjustments are handled through the awarding organisation’s arrangements. Agree the process with your assessment organisation before you run any assessment.

How do you support the apprentice through assessment?

Adjustments are only part of it. Apprentices with anxiety, autism or a learning difficulty often benefit from:

• a clear explanation of each component, in writing and in person
• a visit to the room or a practice online session
• knowing who the assessor is and what they will ask
• practice with the exact software or format
• a plan for what to do if they feel overwhelmed during the assessment

Fictional example. Maya is a level 3 team leader apprentice with ADHD. Throughout training she used 25% extra time and a rest break in timed knowledge checks, and had professional discussion questions shown on screen as well as asked aloud. Her provider recorded each use and her review comments. Five months before the gateway to completion, the provider sent the assessment organisation her support plan, three timed tasks showing extra time in use, and a short statement in Maya’s words. The organisation approved the same three adjustments, and the provider ran a practice discussion using on-screen questions two weeks before the real one.

What should employers know?

Employers play a bigger part in assessment after the reforms, because they verify behaviours. Make sure the apprentice’s workplace adjustments are in place during any observation, and tell the provider if the apprentice’s needs change. Employers do not need the apprentice’s full history, only the adjustments that affect the assessment and their own actions. Our guide to working with employers on adjustments explains how to share this.

How does Inclusion Studio support this process?

Inclusion Studio is learner support software being built for FE colleges and apprenticeship providers in England, currently pre-pilot with a prototype using fictional learners. It is designed to keep the record an assessment application depends on: the support plan the apprentice agreed, delivery records of the adjustments they used, reviews of whether they helped, and a controlled evidence export. Assessment adjustments remain decisions for the assessment organisation under its own policy. The end-point assessment glossary entry gives a short definition.