Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance his Department gives to apprenticeship providers on supporting apprentices with dyslexia.

Nick Boles

Apprenticeships are covered by the Equality Act 2010, therefore employers and providers are required to make reasonable adjustments. Assessment centres (for example colleges) are responsible for ensuring that they understand and apply access arrangements.

Ofqual provides guidance for awarding organisations in England on reasonable adjustment. The Joint Council of Qualifications publishes arrangements annually on special considerations and adjustments. The current version has a number of examples of how to apply arrangements to learners with dyslexia.

The Education and Training Foundation provides guidance for training providers, including advice on supporting apprentices with dyslexia. This can be found in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) section of the Excellence Gateway on the Education and Training Foundation website http://send.excellencegateway.org.uk/.

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