Access arrangements policy for Oxford admissions tests 2025
Access arrangements can be considered for Oxford admissions tests for applicants with known specific educational needs, disabilities or injuries/illnesses (temporary or permanent). This is to help ensure that all applicants, regardless of circumstance, can demonstrate their abilities, knowledge and skills without affecting the integrity or the demand of the assessment.
If you are eligible for access arrangements, you must apply for these when registering on the Oxford Admissions Test Registration portal. Where possible, arrangements are designed to replicate your normal way of working and are expected to be those permitted for your public examinations, eg 25% extra time for A-level exams. If an arrangement cannot be replicated, we will contact you, and the Pearson VUE access arrangement team will provide an appropriate reasonable adjustment.
When requesting access arrangements during the test registration process, you must provide supporting evidence. This will help us to ensure the necessary arrangements are approved in good time to facilitate booking for your test appointment. Please take time to ensure that the arrangements outlined in your evidence match those on your request. Any discrepancies may cause delays in processing and approving your arrangements.
Whatever your circumstances, the earlier we know about your individual requirements, the sooner we can arrange to meet them. It typically takes up to five working days to process and approve standard access arrangements; non-standard arrangements can take more than ten working days. It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your request before registration closes on 19 September (6pm BST) and with sufficient time for processing and approval so you are able you to book your test before booking closes on 26 September (6pm BST).
If you do not have evidence, please wait until this is available to register. If you are concerned that you will not receive your evidence by the time registration closes on 19 September (6pm BST), please contact us using the 'messages' option in the navigation menu on the Oxford Admissions Test Registration portal. You do not need to have registered for a test to access messaging but will need to have created an account with an email and password.
Candidates who encounter unexpected difficulties close to or during their test(s) that may have affected their performance, or who are unable to obtain evidence of their required access arrangements through no fault of their own by the registration deadline, should refer to our separate Special Consideration Policy.
How to apply for access arrangements
1. There are two separate processes for registering for and booking your admissions test. You can register for your Oxford admissions test between Wednesday 18 June 2025 and Friday 19 September (6pm BST). Registered candidates will be able to book their tests from Monday 18 August to Friday 26 September (6pm BST) through the same Oxford Admissions Test Registration portal. Once booking is available, please book your test as soon as possible as places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
2. You do not need to have submitted your UCAS application before booking your admissions test; however, when registering and booking, you will be required to provide your UCAS ID, which is created as soon as you begin an application with UCAS. You can begin your UCAS application from Tuesday 13 May.
3. As part of the registration process, all candidates will be asked whether they would like to request access arrangements and what these are.
Supporting evidence
4. Candidates requesting access arrangements must provide appropriate and timely evidence to support their request. Documentation may be provided by the following specialists:
- Educational psychologist
- Specialist teacher
- GP / medical doctor
- School or college’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator/year head/UCAS coordinator/head teacher or principal (on school or college letterheaded paper or from an official school/college email address). This may be a signed JCQ form 7, 8, or 9.
5. Supporting documentation must provide evidence of the arrangement/s required rather than simply a description of your condition. Failing to do so may result in delays to your arrangements being approved.
6. The evidence provided must be in English. If the original version of the supporting evidence is not written in English, we will accept a translated version which must be signed by the original author, or a legal representative. Where this is not possible, we will accept a letter from a school representative, for example a Special Educational Needs Coordinator/year head/UCAS coordinator/head teacher or principal (this must be on school/college letterheaded paper or from an official school/college email address). They do not need to translate the document, but must confirm that they have fully read your supporting evidence and clearly state which access arrangements have been designated as your normal way of working.
Acceptance and approval
7. Oxford will review each request for access arrangement/s and reserves the right to refuse a request for access arrangement/s or ask for additional evidence, where, in our view, the supporting evidence provided is insufficient. All decisions made by Oxford are final.
8. Notification on the status of your access arrangement request will be via the messaging system and dashboard on the Oxford Admissions Test Registration portal. You should receive email notifications whenever you receive a secure message, but please make sure to check the portal regularly. It is also advisable to check your junk folder. Should you have any concerns, please contact us using the 'messages' option in the navigation menu on the registration portal.
9. All information provided will only be shared with those responsible for arranging access arrangements and will be used in accordance with our Undergraduate applicant privacy policy.
Access Arrangement policy details
10. This Access Arrangements Policy is informed by the UK Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) regulations. If you are currently in receipt of access arrangements not in line with JCQ regulations, you will normally be offered the equivalent UK reasonable adjustments for your disability.
11. Extra test time/rest breaks cannot be ‘added’ to an existing standard test booking. If access arrangements are required after a test booking has been made, it will need to be withdrawn and you will need to re-register and rebook. Any rebooking will be subject to test centre availability and published deadlines by which we need this information.
12. You cannot book your test until your requested access arrangements have been approved by Oxford. We will aim to approve all standard access arrangement requests (for example, 25% extra time, 25% rest breaks, a glucose monitor, a separate room, coloured overlays, a reader/recorder, adjustable height desks, etc) within five working days. Candidates may request non-standard arrangements; these will be considered on a case-by-case basis and may require more than ten working days for review. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the candidate to apply far enough in advance of the booking deadline.
13. The medical items and devices listed on the Pearson VUE Comfort Aid List are permitted in the testing room following a visual inspection. You do not need to request these items as access arrangements, and no prior approval from Oxford is required. Similarly, there is no need to request access arrangements to use a computer, as all Oxford admissions tests are delivered digitally.
14. As the test centre environment may differ slightly from your usual school setting, you are also permitted to bring and wear your own non-electronic earplugs or ear defenders, provided they are presented for visual inspection during check-in. Please note that this is a special arrangement made with Pearson VUE specifically for Oxford Admissions tests. As such, any standard advice on this item in the Pearson VUE Comfort Aid List does not apply in this context.
15. If you left education prior to 2022, you must provide one of the following:
- For learning difficulties – a full, post-16 diagnostic assessment report of that specific learning difficulty from a specialist teacher assessor or registered psychologist. It must explicitly recommend a specific amount of extra exam time and/or other accommodations provided in public examinations.
- For physical disabilities, other medical conditions, or sensory impairments - you must provide a recent letter (dated 2025) from your GP Practice/Family doctor or a specialist (e.g. a consultant or psychiatrist) which must include a clear outline of your disability, explain how your disability would have an effect on your ability to sit a time-restricted, computer-based exam, (if appropriate) a recommendation for rest breaks or extra time (anything over 25% of the test duration must be strongly justified), or any other arrangements required.
Types of access arrangement
Extra time
16. Extra time may be granted in cases where a candidate requires more time to read or process test information due to a disability, learning difficulty, or long-term medical or mental health condition which affects speed of working or performance in timed exams. In accordance with JCQ guidelines: “For the overwhelming majority of candidates with cognition and learning needs who require extra time, 25% will be sufficient. There must be a strong justification as to why more than 25% extra time is required, including a substantial body of centre-based evidence.”
17. Requests for more than 25% extra test time will only be approved in exceptional circumstances where you have a disability that has a very substantial and long-term adverse effect on your speed of working which is supported by the appropriate documentation.
Please note that extra test time will not be approved if you are applying for additional time because English is not your first language. In order to take up a place on one of our undergraduate courses, you must be able to demonstrate English language proficiency at the University's higher level in accordance with our English language proficiency guidance.
Rest Breaks (pause the clock)
18. Rest breaks may be used to pause the clock (PTC) for an allotted time, meaning you can take a break without losing test time.
19. Rest breaks are approved if needed to manage a disability during testing or a candidate needs to take certain medication or use comfort aids not permitted into the exam room. Similar to extra time, your evidence should state a specific time allowance for rest breaks.
20. During rest breaks, candidates will not have access to test content and will not be permitted to access notebooks or whiteboards. In the event of invigilators observing you actively working on the test during a rest break, this may be reported to Oxford and investigated as potential misconduct. You are able to leave the testing room and move about within the test centre, including using the toilet. You are not permitted to leave the centre or go outside.
21. If you require rest breaks of more than 25%, or require rest breaks in addition to extra time of more than 25%, please add this in the ‘Further requirements’ section of the access arrangement form.
22. Please note candidates cannot be designated ‘unlimited’ rest breaks. In line with JCQ guidance, “Candidates cannot be given as many supervised rest breaks as they like for as long as they like”. If your evidence states this, please send a supplementary letter from your SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) as JCQ advises: ‘The duration of the supervised rest break must be determined by the SENCo based on their knowledge of the candidate’s needs and the candidate’s normal way of working when placed under timed conditions.” If you have any difficulties or are no longer at school, please contact us using the 'messages' option in the navigation menu on the Oxford Admissions Test Registration portal.
23. If rest breaks are not part of your approved access arrangements, you may still take a short comfort break - for example, to use the toilet or have a drink. Please alert a test administrator, who will enable an unscheduled break on your test. However, please note that the test timer will continue running during this time.
Visual adjustments
24. As all Oxford admissions tests are digital, accessibility features built into the testing platform include:
- A zoom function, creating adjustable font sizes up to 200% (candidates can use ctrl+/- to zoom in/out)
- A selection of colour schemes is available, offering different background and text colour combinations. You’ll be able to see which options are available for your specific test when practice materials are released at the end of June.
- Accessible spacing and lining of the text.
As these features are built into the testing platform, they are available for all candidates without requiring access arrangements to be requested.
25. If candidates require coloured backgrounds which are not available on the digital platform, they may also be permitted to use a coloured overlay. This must be supplied by the candidate and is subject to visual inspection at the test centre. Overlays should lie flat against the screen (kept in place by static) or in a frame that sits on the top of the monitor. Most UK test centres use 24” flat screen monitors.
Separate room
26. To test in a separate room at a test centre, a candidate must provide explicit evidence that a separate room is required. This might be because a reader and/or recorder is needed due to a disability, or because immediate access is required to an item not listed as a permitted comfort aid such as food/drink, medication, glucose monitors with alarms that cannot be muted, or other medical devices that make noise.
27. Separate rooms are subject to test centre availability and are not soundproofed or necessarily quieter than the main testing area.
28. Test centres are not like a large school hall. They often comprise a ‘lab’ of approximately 12 seats. Therefore, if your evidence states that you need a ‘smaller room’ designation, you would be expected to sit your test in the main testing area.
29. If you are sensitive to noise, whether sitting in a separate room or the main testing area, you are able to wear your own non-electronic ear defenders/ear plugs, which should be presented for inspection when checking in.
30. If you have evidence to support the need of a separate room, please list this in the further arrangement/s box provided on the access arrangement request form during registration.
Further requirements
31. In some cases, where the requested access arrangement/s require physical resources to be provided by Pearson VUE, customised arrangements will need to be put in place and these will need to be booked directly with Pearson VUE.
32. Once a candidate has successfully registered for their test and submitted their access arrangement request, they may be asked to fill out an online Pearson VUE scheduling form. Examples of such arrangements include the use of human reader and/or recorder, a separate room for invigilation, or supplementary aids such as coloured screen overlays.
33. Where a candidate needs to bring a supplementary item with them to the test centre, which is considered a non-standard arrangement eg fidgets, a photograph of the item will be required in advance. You may wish to upload this with your evidence.
34. If a candidate has any arrangement which is not presented in the initial list provided on the access arrangement request form, they are invited to give details of these in the ‘Further requirements’ section of the access arrangement request form, so they can be reviewed directly by Oxford. Subject to approval, this information will be passed to Pearson VUE. In some cases, candidates will be sent a link for an additional form from Pearson VUE to be completed and/or Pearson VUE will book a candidate's test centre on their behalf. Oxford will inform candidates via secure message on the registration portal where this is the case. This will also be highlighted on your registration portal dashboard.
