What are Personalised Assessment Arrangements (PAA)?

Personalised Assessment Arrangements (PAA)  aim to provide an environment that gives all students an equal opportunity for assessment. If you have a diagnosed Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, a neurodiverse disability such as ADHD, autism, a long term medical or mental health condition or other disability that may affect your ability to engage in written assessments, you can apply for PAA.

Students who are eligible for a Personalised Assessment Arrangement can request arrangements which can include:

•  Having additional time during an exam, which can be used to complete the exam or for rest breaks. For rest breaks:

• Please bear in mind that any granted extra time/rest breaks are to be treated equally as all of the granted time will be added in full to the duration of your exam.
•  You are allowed to work and/or rest during the given time, and you can go to the toilet at any time during the exam.

• Having a neurodiversity assessment coversheet or exam script sticker that informs the examiner of your specific learning disability

• Using special tinted paper, also known as a coloured overlay, which can be used on top of the exam paper and can be helpful to students with dyslexia. You must provide your own coloured overlay if you are eligible to use this for your exams.

• Using a computer or laptop, provided by the Examinations Office, to type up answers for a written exam.

• Requesting for the text on your exam paper to be larger than font size 14.

• Requesting up to 7 days of additional time to complete assessed coursework. Read our article How can I apply for 7-day extensions for coursework assessments (including essays and dissertations)

You can see more examples of the PAA arrangements made at King's in our article What arrangements are generally made for students with Personalised Assessment Arrangements (PAA)?

Important to know:

• Students who are eligible for a Personalised Assessment Arrangement can request other arrangements and are not limited to the examples above. This will depend on your condition and any supporting evidence you provide.

• Please be advised that recommendations from an educational psychologist (for Specific Learning Difficulties) or a medical practitioner (for medical conditions), or any previous arrangements that an applicant have been granted at another institution, will not necessarily be granted by the Personalised Assessment Arrangement Panel. They are just one of the factors taken into consideration by the panel when determining suitable arrangements that are fair and in line with all other arrangements made.

Our article Guidance for applying for Personalised Assessment Arrangement includes guidance on how to apply for PAA, what evidence you will need to provide during the application process, and answers to common questions about the application process.

For guidance on how to prepare for online assessments if you have a PAA in place, please read our article How can I prepare for online assessments at King’s?

Please read our article After you have applied for Personalised Assessment Arrangements (PAA) for further guidance. 

Please email the Examinations Office as soon as possible, informing us of your situation and requested PAA provisions. We will review your request and you will be notified by email if it’s possible to accommodate it.

Important to know: There is no guarantee that a request under these circumstances will be approved by the Personalised Assessment Arrangement Panel.