Transcript Books for All - CALL Scotland

SQA Adapted Digital
Question Papers
Paul D. Nisbet
CALL Scotland
University of Edinburgh
SQA Assessment Arrangements
“Assessment arrangements should
ensure that all candidates have an
equal opportunity to show that they
can achieve the national standards
required for Units and Courses.”
Introduction to Assessment Arrangements
SQA, November 2008
SQA Assessment Arrangements
2009

Requests for Assessment Arrangements
made for 13,041 candidates
(8% of candidates)

Requests made for 45,612 entries
(6.2 % of entries)
2009 assessment arrangements
(45,612 requests)
Extra Time
35,636 Digital Question Paper
1,167
Separate accommodation
26,381 Calculator
660
Reader
16,554 Transcription without correction
626
Scribe
14,197 PA referral
540
Use of ICT
6,253 Modified content
277
Prompter
2,099 Adapted certificate
119
Coloured Paper
2,050 Paper signed to candidate
57
Rest Period
1,434 Candidate Signs Responses
42
Enlarged Print
1,305 Tape recorder for responses
37
Transcription with correction
1,179 Braille
31
SQA Adapted Digital Papers
PDFAloud speech tools
Sentence being read
and each word
highlighted
Form fields for answers
Supporting reading
Zoom in and out
 Change colours
 Navigate with
keyboard/mouse
 Text-to-speech

Supporting writing

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



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Acrobat spellchecker
Word processor
spellchecker etc
Word prediction (e.g.
Co:Writer, Penfriend)
On-screen keyboards
Switch access
Speech recognition
Screen magnification
Answer Booklets
Only ‘Question and Answer’ papers
(Intermediate, SG Foundation and
General) have red answer boxes
 To answer most SG Credit, Higher and
Advanced Higher papers use either:

Answer booklets in PDF
 A word processor, e.g. Microsoft Word


PDF Answer booklets are available from
SQA
. Can I use a spellchecker in the
examination?

SQA’s policy is that “all software such as spellchecks, predictive
software etc, must be disabled, unless it has been approved by
SQA.” [1]

Spellcheckers can be requested for candidates who “potentially
have the ability to achieve the national standards”, but are “unable to
do using the published assessment arrangements” [2].
Spellcheckers should only be requested for candidates who have a
particular spelling difficulty due to, for example, dyslexia, and where
their poor spelling is likely to impact on their ability to demonstrate
their skills and knowledge.
[1] SQA 2008, Assessment Arrangements Explained, p.8,
http://www.sqa.org.uk/assessmentarrangements
[2] SQA 2008, Introduction to Assessment Arrangements, p.3,
http://www.sqa.org.uk/assessmentarrangements


. Can I use a spellchecker in the
examination?

If your candidate is eligible want to use a spellchecker (or any other
technique that may help the candidate with spelling, like word
prediction or speech recognition), you must request it using the
standard Assessment Arrangements Request system. Use of a
spellchecker is regarded as a type of Assessment Arrangement.

You can request to use a spellchecker in almost all subjects apart
from the writing papers in Modern Languages and , Gaelic
(Learners) and Gàidhlig. The Writing papers for these subjects
assess spelling and so spellcheckers are not allowed for any
candidate.
[1] SQA 2008, Assessment Arrangements Explained, p.8,
http://www.sqa.org.uk/assessmentarrangements
[2] SQA 2008, Introduction to Assessment Arrangements, p.3,
http://www.sqa.org.uk/assessmentarrangements
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Maths and drawing

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Basic drawing tools in
Acrobat Reader
MS Word Equation
Editor or other
equation tool can be
used to create
maths/scientific
notation
But options for maths
and science are
limited
Software needed for ADPs
 To
access the papers:
 Acrobat
Reader 7.0.9, 8 or 9 (free)
 www.adobe.com
 To
have the paper read out:
 Adobe
Reader Read Outloud (free) or
 PDFaloud (£295 site licence from LTS)
or
 Another TTS program e.g. Read and
Write Gold, ClaroRead etc
www.theScottishVoice.org.uk
Not a panacea!

Digital versions of paper assessments

Some questions may not ‘translate’
particularly well to the screen

Only ‘question and answer’ papers have
answer boxes

See http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/30030.html
for a list of papers available for 2008
www.adapteddigitalexams.org.uk
SQA Assessment Arrangements
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/14977.html