What Is Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA)?

A person holding a pen marking an exam paper.

A child’s education journey can be filled with many highs and lows. Assessments and examinations form a large part of these formative years, and depending on individual circumstances, can be a very trying time for the child and their families.

Whether it’s vision impairment, learning disorders, hearing difficulties, medical diagnosis or other challenging circumstances, there are many factors which can affect a child’s ability to complete assessments and examinations. That is where Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA) come into play.

Here we have broken down what AARA is, who is eligible and how to go about applying.

What is Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA)?

As the name suggests Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA) are a group of adjustments and alternative arrangements that can be applied by a school at exam time, so a student with an eligible impairment can have access to attending and completing an examination with minimal barriers.

Eligibility for AARA

Once you understand what AARA is and how it can assist your child’s schooling, the next step is to check whether your child is eligible.

AARA’s are available for eligible students who are undertaking senior school studies within Queensland.

Eligibility criteria for an AARA include impairments, disabilities, medical conditions and other circumstances which can significantly impact the individual’s ability to understand, participate and respond in an assessment environment.

According to QCAA, eligibility for an AARA includes intermittent, temporary, or permanent conditions or circumstances such as:

cognitive
physical
sensory
social/emotional
illness
misadventure
unforeseen circumstances where the student has no control, e.g. death of a family member

It is important to note that AARA’s can differ for each individual student, even if it appears they have the same condition, diagnosis, or circumstance as another child.

What Type of AARA’s Are Available?

Just as each child is individual, and assessment tasks vary, there is also a range of AARA’s to suit each specific circumstance.

The QCAA list some common AARA’s as:

alternative exam conditions – extra time, rest breaks and/or separate venues
extension of due dates
alternative-format papers – A4 to A3 enlargement, black-and-white materials
a reader and/or scribe
assistive technology – screen reader, speech recognition application, magnification application

How to Apply for AARA?

If you feel your child could benefit from an AARA, your first port of call should be discussing your child’s situation with the school. Together you can explore what options are available and specific eligibility criteria.

From here the parent/carer together with the educational facility, will discuss and gather relevant documentation to support the application.

Supporting documentation could include:

evidence of verified disability
school statements
medical reports
a student statement
other official reports such as police reports

It will then be up to the school to fill out and submit an AARA application via the QCAA portal.

AARA applications will then be assessed and approved by either the school or the QCAA, depending on which subjects an AARA is requested for.

There are specific deadlines for which AARA applications must be submitted. Check with your school as soon as possible to avoid missing these deadlines.

Further Information

The Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (QCAA) provides extensive information in regard to AARA and should be the first place you visit for additional AARA details.