For most students at the University of Pretoria, exam conditions are fixed: the same paper, the same venue rules, and the same time limits. But for students with disabilities, the conditions they write in are adjusted, not to change what is being assessed, but to remove the barriers that may prevent fair participation.
As the first examination period of the year concludes, the university’s approach to exam accommodations has become a major topic of conversation, raising questions about how accessibility is implemented across different faculties and assessment venues.
At the centre of this process is UP’s Access, Disability, and Inclusion Services (ADIS) that manages exam accommodations for students with disabilities. According to ADIS senior disability officer Tshegofatso Kenalepe, support is not based solely on diagnosis, but on how a disability affects a student’s ability to function in an examination setting.
Students who require accommodations must register with ADIS and submit supporting documentation before adjustments are approved. Each case is assessed individually, with recommendations tailored to the specific barriers a student experiences during assessments.
These accommodations can include additional writing time, rest breaks, alternative venues, readers or scribes, assistive technology, enlarged print, electronic exam papers, or adapted seating arrangements. The aim, Kenalepe explains, is to ensure that students are assessed on the same academic content as their peers under conditions that reduce potential disadvantages. However, implementing these adjustments requires co-ordination across multiple parts of the university. ADIS works with faculties, examination offices, and support staff to ensure that approved accommodations are in place before students arrive to write.
During exam periods, staff oversee the implementation of arrangements and intervene when issues arise. In instances where students are not writing in ADIS-managed venues, co-ordination with faculties becomes essential to ensure consistency across different examination settings.
Despite these systems, Kenalepe notes that several operational challenges continue to affect the process. These include late registration by students, incomplete or outdated medical documentation, increasing demand for specialised support, limited availability of suitable venues, and the administrative co-ordination required across departments during peak examination periods. According to the office, these pressures become most visible during examination seasons when the demand for accommodations increases significantly and logistical planning becomes more complex.
While accommodations are intended to ensure equal access to assessments, Kenalepe says that they do not alter academic standards. The content, marking criteria, and learning outcomes of examinations remain unchanged. For example, additional time may be granted where a disability affects processing speed, while students with visual impairments may receive electronic papers compatible with screen-reading software. In both cases, the assessment itself remains the same, with adjustments made only to the conditions under which it is completed.
The university also acknowledges that while feedback from students is welcomed through general channels, there is currently no formal system for collecting post-examination feedback specifically related to accommodation experiences.
With it being difficult to get any thoughts from students who use ADIS’s services, the university will continue to expand access for students with disabilities, making sure that exam accommodations remain one of the clearest areas where policy meets practice. At UP, the system depends not only on approved adjustments, but also on how consistently those adjustments can be implemented across all faculties during the pressures of examination periods.
Visual: Jemma Thomson
