Edexcel Online users with access to the Special Considerations Online Tool (SCOT) for their General Qualification provision will have access to the service. If you require access to the service, please contact us.
1. After logging into the Pearson Portal, Click on the 'My Apps' option:
For additional guidance on accessing the Pearson Portal, please see: Pearson Portal Authenticator.
2. Click on the 'Special Considerations Service' tile:
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Please Note: You can track the receipt and processing of your special consideration applications for BTEC Firsts, Nationals, Technicals and Legacy Tech Awards. In addition, from the Summer 2024 series, you are now able to apply for Technical Qualifications (T Levels) via the Special Considerations Service. This is our first phase in improving and streamlining how you submit special consideration requests.
You will see your centre's name, number, and address at the top right-hand side of the screen. If you are creating a request for the learner at a subsite, please make sure you select the appropriate subsite here.
1. Click on 'Create Request':
2. Select the Special Consideration type; available options are:
Please note, the next steps will take you through the By Individual workflow. If you wish to submit an application for an entire cohort of learner, please skip ahead to the 'Create Request – By Cohort' section
3. Select the special consideration type; available options are:
- Absent
- Disadvantaged
- Partially Absent
4. Select the qualification type and the Exam series/Availability window; in this example we use BTEC Level 3 National.
You can select current and future exam series:
5. When the request type is 'by individual', you can search using three fields: Learner ID, Learner Given Name and Learner Family Name.
The 'Learner ID' field accepts the following:
- Candidate Number
- UCI Number
- ULN
- Registration Number
Please note:
6. Click 'Search':
Learners are then displayed matching the search criteria in individual learner registration 'cards'; each card shows one learner registration/qualification:
Please note: If the results displayed are not required, click the 'Reset' button to enter different criteria.
7. To select a learner click on the card; the card will be highlighted with a green tick; click 'Next':
8. Next, select the papers/assessments. If there are multiple papers, these will be displayed. It will also show the word paper along with the unit reference. Click 'Next':
9. Enter details of the problem.
If you selected 'Disadvantaged' and answered 'Yes' to the question 'Do you hold medical or other evidence supporting your request?', please enter the name and status of the professional providing the evidence:
If you selected 'Disadvantaged' and answered 'No' to the question 'Do you hold medical or other evidence supporting your request?', there is no option to enter the name and status of the professional:
Please Note: If you selected the 'Absence' category, one of the questions will change to 'Is the candidate certificating in the current series / availability window?':
Please Note: If you selected 'No' to the question' Do you hold medical or other evidence supporting your request?', you will see another question asking, 'Are you satisfied the reason given for the request is genuine?':
10. If you click 'No', you are not satisfied the request is genuine and click 'Next' to continue the application. You will see the message below. Click 'OK' to continue and amend the application:
11. Once all details have been entered, click 'Next' to continue:
12. For applications that have yet to request documents to be submitted, you will receive a 'Confirmation' message which includes the application reference. Click 'OK' to finish the application:
13. If the application has been selected for further evidence to be supplied, you will see this message:
You can upload materials by clicking 'Yes'. Clicking 'No' returns you to the service homepage. To upload documents later, please see Uploading Support Documents.
14. After clicking 'Yes' to upload evidence, the following screen is displayed; either drag and drop files or click in the upload area:
15. The upload will go through a verification process, checking that the file name contains acceptable characters; it will also go through an antivirus check:
Please Note: The service supports the following file formats:
- Word documents
- PDFs
- Excel spreadsheets
- CSV spreadsheets
- Zipped files
- JPEGs
For file naming, the service will accept the following characters:
- alphanumeric characters
- hyphens
- dots
- underscores
The service will not accept file names containing:
- Exclamation marks
- ampersands
If you upload a file with characters not allowed, you will see this error message:
16. Files successfully accepted will show a tick and the 'Accepted' message. You can also download a copy of the file and delete the file. Click 'Next':
Please Note: If you click the bin icon to delete a file, you will see this confirmation message:
17. Tick the Declaration confirmation box after checking all the details entered, then click 'Submit':
Please Note: If you need to amend the application, click 'Cancel', the following message will be displayed:
Clicking 'OK' will cancel the whole application, and you will be returned to the home screen:
18. You will see a confirmation message advising that the documents have been submitted and will be reviewed by a member of our team. Click 'OK':
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Create Request - By Cohort
From the June 2024 / Summer 2024 series, you are now able to submit a special consideration application for multiple learners in the same request. You will be able to do this for BTEC Firsts, Nationals, Technicals, Legacy Tech Awards and Technical Qualifications (T Levels).
1. Click on 'Create Request':
2. Select the Special Consideration type; available options are:
Please note, the next steps will take you through the By Cohort workflow. If you wish to submit an application for an individual learner, please skip back to the 'Create Request – By Individual' section
3. Select the special consideration type; available options are:
- Absent
- Disadvantaged
- Partially Absent
JCQ Reasonable Adjustment and Special Consideration regulations and guidance
4. Select the qualification type and the Exam series/Availability window; in this example we use BTEC Level 3 National, and click 'Next'.
You can select current and future exam series:
5. You can select the relevant qualification / programme using the 'Qualification / Subject' dropdown:
Please note:
- For Vocational qualifications, it will display the BTEC programmes you have registered your learners against and have entries in the Exam Series selected.
- For Technical Qualifications (i.e. T Levels), it will display the T Level qualifications you have registered your learners against and have entries in the Exam Series selected.
6. Learners are then displayed matching the search criteria in individual learner registration 'cards'; each card shows one learner registration/qualification.
To select a learner/s click on the card; the card will be highlighted with a tick in the top left corner. You can repeat this for all learners that you wish to make a request against:
7. Once you have selected all the learners you wish to include in the request, then click 'Next':
8. Select the papers/assessments. If there are multiple papers, these will be displayed. It will also show the word paper along with the unit reference. Then, click 'Next':
Please note, If you have selected more than 10 learners, the highlight banner will hide the list of learners. If you wish to see all learners then select the expand arrow on the right side of the banner to view all learners.
Important
Where a learner already has an application submitted for a paper, you will receive a message in the application that states:
- An application for this paper ALREADY EXISTS for the following learner/s:
LEARNER NAMES
This paper will be omitted from these learner/s application request.
Where a learner does not have an entry for the paper selected, you will receive a message in the application that states:
- An entry for this paper could not be found for the following learner/s:
Learner X -
This paper will be omitted from these learner/s application request.
9. Enter details of the problem. For bulk cohort requests, only 'Disadvantaged' can be selected. Where you have answered 'Yes' to the question 'Do you hold medical or other evidence supporting your request?', please enter the name and status of the professional providing the evidence:
If you answered 'No' to the question 'Do you hold medical or other evidence supporting your request?', there is no option to enter the name and status of the professional:
Please Note: If you selected 'No' to the question 'Do you hold medical or other evidence supporting your request?', you will see another question asking, 'Are you satisfied the reason given for the request is genuine?':
10. If you click 'No', you are not satisfied the request is genuine and click 'Next' to continue the application. You will see the message below. Click 'Ok' to continue and amend the application:
11. Once all details have been entered, click 'Next' to continue:
12. In the next page, you will be asked to tick the declaration. Once ticked, click 'Submit':
13. Once you tick the declaration and select next, you will receive a message stating which application would require further evidence:
You can upload evidence via the View/Manage Requests section shown below.
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Centres can submit further required evidence by locating an application and then adding additional evidence/documents using drag and drop in the application.
1. After logging into the Pearson Portal, Click on the 'My Apps' option:
For additional guidance on accessing the Pearson Portal, please see: Pearson Portal Authenticator.
2. Click on the 'Special Considerations Service' tile:
3. You will see the application service homepage, click on 'View / Manage Request':
4. Select the Qualification Type and Exam Series / Availability Window. In this example, we are using BTEC Level 3 Nationals:
5. Using these details displays a list of applications created for that overarching qualification and exam series:
6. You can also refine your application search further by sorting applications using the following criteria:
7. Once you have located the application, click on the three dots and then click on 'View Application':
8. Click 'Edit':
9. To upload attachments, either click in the section or drag and drop files into the section:
Please Note: The service supports the following file formats:
- Word documents
- PDFs
- Excel spreadsheets
- CSV spreadsheets
- Zipped files
- JPEGs
For file naming, the service will accept the following characters:
- alphanumeric characters
- hyphens
- dots
- underscores
The service will not accept file names containing:
- Exclamation marks
- ampersands
If you upload a file with characters not allowed, you will see this error message:
10. The upload will go through a verification process, checking that the file contains allowed characters; it will also go through an antivirus check:
11. Files successfully accepted will show a tick and the 'Accepted' message. You can also download a copy of the file and delete the file. Click 'Next':
Please Note: If you click the bin icon to delete a file, you will see this confirmation message:
12. Tick the Declaration confirmation box after checking the uploaded information is correct, then click 'Submit':
13. You will see a confirmation message advising that the documents have been submitted and will be reviewed by a member of our team. Click 'OK' to finish the application:
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Related Article:
Special Requirements: Access Arrangements & Special Considerations
