Testing SEND and EAL students

Broadly, we recommend the following regarding accommodations for YARC. The advice may vary depending on the purpose of the assessment and the needs of each individual child. 

The YARC test is administered on a one-to-one basis, and all questions are spoken aloud by the examiner (teacher or SENDCo).

Whilst we do not recommend prompting pupils if they seem to be struggling on a word, or praising them for reading a word correctly, this may be necessary for SEND or EAL students. If the pupil makes a reading error, give the correct word to help maintain comprehension. If the pupil is unable to read a word, leave about 5 seconds before prompting. If a pupil gives an answer that is unclear, vague or too general, the examiner is permitted to prompt the student, by saying ‘Can you tell me a little bit more?’ Record this on the Pupil Record Form by writing Q next to the child’s answer.

Whilst the examiner will time the length of the assessment, in particular the pupil’s reading time, there is not a time limit to the assessment, so accommodations for pupils that may need extra time are permissible.

Further acceptable accommodations:

• Enlargement of font size
• Practical assistant

Please see the following links for relevant case studies:

• YARC Early Reading (UK) Case 1 & 2: Jenna and Jake
• Passage Reading Primary (UK) Case 1: John
• Passage Reading Secondary (UK) Case 1: Maya