On-demand webinar

Understanding reasonable adjustments: implementation and execution

Name: Understanding reasonable adjustments: implementation and execution
Start: 2023-07-28T00:00:00.000Z

Dr Louise Karwowski on understanding reasonable adjustments and making them work, on programme and at assessment, in a session run with ALPS. Recorded in 2023.

Recorded · 28 July 2023

This is an older recording. Some of it is out of date: see what's still relevant and what has changed.

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Understanding reasonable adjustments: implementation and execution

Speakers

Dr Louise Karwowski
Former VP Neuro-inclusion Training, Cognassist

Understanding reasonable adjustments

Significant barriers still exist for many learners, preventing their success in education. In this session, run with ALPS, Dr Louise Karwowski, Director of Education at Cognassist, explores reasonable adjustments in detail: why understanding them matters, and how to put them in place effectively.

It’s the responsibility of everyone in our sector to remove barriers to education, and part of that is understanding and making reasonable adjustments for learners with additional learning needs.

What we cover

How to decide whether an adjustment is reasonable
Practical adjustments on programme and at end-point assessment
Screening for support needs and agreeing a plan with the learner

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Recorded July 2023 · reviewed October 2026

What's still relevant

Three questions for deciding whether an adjustment is reasonable: does it remove the disadvantage, is it practical, and is it affordable.
A long list of practical adjustments, on programme and at end-point assessment, and why anything used on programme should be mirrored at assessment.
How to screen for support needs in plain language, and why the plan needs the learner's agreement.

What's out of date

The August 2023 rules (from 31:13). It says new learning support rules start in a few days and require a screening exercise at initial assessment. Now: The current rules are the apprenticeship funding rules for August 2026 to July 2027, set by DWP, and they still require a screening exercise for learning support.
Monthly reviews (from 40:56). It says monthly reviews are part of the funding rules. Now: The 2026 to 2027 rules ask for a review at least every three calendar months, the first one month after adjustments start.
A ninth domain coming (from 32:04). It says a ninth cognitive domain has been added and will roll out in the coming months. Now: The assessment now measures nine domains, grouped into three indexes.
How many learners need support (from 33:17). It sets around thirty percent of assessed learners needing support against seventeen percent declaring a need. Now: Approximately 1 in 3 learners we assess in FE and apprenticeships may have a cognitive barrier that warrants support; 16.7% of apprenticeship starts in 2024/25 declared a learning difficulty or disability.
The three I's (from 11:18). It threads Ofsted's three I's through a five-part quality framework. Now: The three I's are not a requirement of Ofsted's renewed framework, in use since November 2025, though they remain sound evidencing practice.