You may be eligible to use a scribe and/or reader if you suffer from a disability or impairment. All students wishing to use a scribe or reader must provide supporting evidence to enable these arrangements to be put in place for them.
A reader is a person who reads the examination questions for you and a scribe (also known as an amanuensis) is a person who types down a student’s dictated answers to questions.
A reader should be a person who is able to read the examination questions correctly; who can speak clearly and accurately and at a reasonable speed; and who must not have a working knowledge of accountancy. A reader cannot, therefore, be an accountant or trainee accountant. Colleagues, family members and friends who do not have accountancy knowledge may be considered.
A scribe should be a person who is able to produce an accurate record of your answers; who can type legibly and at a reasonable speed; and who must not have a working knowledge of accountancy. A scribe cannot, therefore, be an accountant or trainee accountant. Colleagues, family members and friends who do not have accountancy knowledge may be considered.
For Certificate level exams a reader or scribe will be provided for you by your centre. Please review the following guidance when booking your exams. Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) :: Pearson VUE
For Professional and Advanced Level exams your chosen reader or scribe must be approved by ICAEW. Please complete the approval form and submit this to my.icaew.com/examsonline no later than the closing date for access arrangement submissions for your chosen exam session. We will confirm via email if your reader or scribe has been approved.
If, for any reason, you need to change your reader or scribe before the exam, you must notify ICAEW for approval. A replacement reader or scribe that has not been approved by ICAEW will not be allowed to attend the exam.
You must ensure that you allow sufficient time before an assessment to put arrangements for a reader or scribe in place. We recommend that you apply as soon as you know you will need a reader or scribe; the normal access arrangement deadline may not be sufficient for the complex arrangements.
A standard 30 minutes’ extra exam time for use of the reader or scribe will be added to your individual time adjustment.
The use of a reader or scribe for any assessment should not give you an unfair advantage nor should it further disadvantage you.
Guidance for the student
Wherever possible, you should have had experience in using a reader or scribe before the examination. The person to be approved should be available for you to practise with, especially for mock assessments. Proposed readers or scribes should therefore be aware that a substantial commitment is normally required to help you through the ICAEW assessments.
A reader or scribe can only be used if it is possible to put in place suitable arrangements for the assessment either at an assessment venue, or in some cases at your workplace, tuition provider’s premises or remotely for Professional and Advanced Level only. In these cases, specific supervision is required to ensure that examination conditions are maintained throughout the assessment. Two invigilators may be assigned to the venue and an invigilator may accompany you and your reader or scribe for breaks during the assessment period.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your reader or scribe has read and understood these guidance notes before entering the exam room and complies with all ICAEW requirements.
Guidance for the reader
During the examination, you (the reader) may not undertake any activity which might confer an advantage to the student which does not relate directly to the intent of the arrangement. The following list is not exhaustive. You:
- must not give factual help to the student or offer any suggestions or coaching;
- must not advise the student on time management, when to move on to the next question, or the order in which the questions should be answered. You must not tell the student how much time has passed or is left of their exam, or tell the student what the time is at any point during the exam unless the student specifically asks you to confirm the current time;
- must read questions exactly as they are written, in English;
- must immediately refer any problems in communication during the examination to the invigilator.
You must provide photographic identification to the invigilator before entering the exam venue.
Failure to comply with any of the above requirements could be considered a breach of the ACA assessment regulations and be reported as misconduct.
Guidance for the scribe
During the examination, you (the scribe) may not undertake any activity which might confer an advantage to the student which does not relate directly to the intent of the arrangement. The following list is not exhaustive. You:
- must not give factual help to the student or offer any suggestions or coaching;
- must not advise the student on time management, when to move on to the next question, or the order in which the questions should be answered. You must not tell the student how much time has passed or is left of their exam or tell the student what the time is at any point during the exam unless the student specifically asks you to confirm the current time;
- must not have any discussion with the student except where there is a specific problem, for example the student is not speaking clearly or too quickly;
- must type answers exactly as they are dictated. Students may be asked to provide spelling of specialist or technical terms; errors made by the student must be recorded as dictated.
- must draw or add to diagrams and graphs strictly in accordance with the student’s instructions; errors made by the student must be recorded as instructed.
- must not type, write, draw, or add to diagrams while the student is completing other work including reading or typing; or undertake any other action which might increase the student’s ability to provide information beyond the intent of the arrangement.
- must only type answers that are dictated in full by the student and not copy any sections of text from any source.
- must immediately refer any problems in communication during the examination to the invigilator.
You must provide photographic identification to the invigilator before entering the exam venue.
Failure to comply with any of the above requirements could be considered a breach of the ACA assessment regulations and be reported as misconduct.