Students who require exam support is advised to book a Needs Assessment appointment by Week 6 (17th October 2025) of the current trimester. Please note that appointment availability may be limited after this date, however we encourage you to contact us to book a Needs Assessment. Students who contact us after this date cannot be guaranteed their support in the end-of-trimester exams. Please check your UCD Connect email regularly for updates in regards to exam support.
At your Needs Assessment, exam support will be recommended for any timed assessments. This support might include Extra Time (set at 10 minutes extra per hour, as per the national standard), use of the alternative exam location on campus, use of assistive technology and any other appropriate support.
UCD is committed to ensuring, as far as possible and within the framework of current legislative requirements, that students with disabilities have equality of access to and participation in all examinations and assessment procedures. This includes end-of-trimester examinations and any other timed examinations that contribute to module or course results. Students with disabilities will be enabled to demonstrate their knowledge and competency on an equal footing with their peers.
If you have availed of Temporary Exam Support, this will be removed in the weeks following your exams. You will need to contact us to request a Needs Assessment appointment to avail of ongoing in-class and exam support.
How to check what support has been confirmed
If you wish to check what support you have confirmed with the disability team, please follow these steps:
1. Log on to SISWeb
2. Registration
3. Fees & Assessment tab
4. Click on 'My Exam Supports'
If no support is listed please email (opens in a new window)disability@ucd.ie immediately. Please note that if you have been on a leave of absence or have changed course your support may not have updated this year.
For locally arranged exams (class tests, online exams and midterms) you must contact your module coordinator/lecturer to arrange support and email them your Certificate of Disability Support, as soon as possible to allow time for arrangements to be made.
Student's responsibility
Students are instructed to request their support as far in advance as possible to allow time for module coordinators/lecturers to organise the accommodations. It is the responsibility of the module coordinator/lecturer to arrange exam support for local exams outside the end-of-trimester exams.
Module coordinator's responsibility
If a student has been approved to use Assistive Technology (AT) such as a laptop, electronic pen or similar tools, and they wish to avail of any AT for local exams, it is the responsibility of the module coordinator/lecturer to ensure the necessary arrangements are made. For Assistive Technology related requests, please contact us at (opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)disability@ucd.ie.
Online Exams
Online exams are a new feature of UCD Assessment. In previous years you may have had none or very few online exams. Exam support is still applicable to online exams, but you may find some are no longer required due to the nature of online assessments. Some key exam supports which are still applicable online are:
- Extra time for timed online exams:If you have been granted extra time as a reasonable accommodation, it can still be applied to timed online exams. You should contact your module coordinator/lecturer at least one week before the exam. You should request the extra time to be applied to your online exams and attach a copy of their Certificate of Disability Support.
Extra time can only applies to timed exams. Two examples of different timing procedures are illustrated below:
- Timed Exam (Extra Time Applies): A two-hour exam that can be taken anytime during the week, but must be completed within 2 hours once started. This exam would include extra time for students with the reasonable accommodation of extra time.
- Not Timed Exam (Extra Time Not Applied): An exam which is available over a 48 hour period, and students are not expected to spend more than 2 hours on the exam but they can if they wish. Extra time would not be applied to these exams.
Spelling and Grammar Consideration support can be used for online timed exams only. Students entitled to this support will receive a piece of text to copy and paste at the beginning of their exam script. Module coordinators/lecturers can confirm that students are entitled to this support by checking the Module Class List on Infohub. This support cannot be applied for language exams where the student is being examined on their knowledge of a foreign language itself.
For other assessments students should use proofreading software to proofread their work prior to submission. Students can also attend one-to-one and/or group sessions with the Writing Centre.
Readersupport for online exams is now provided through the Read and Write browser which is a text to speech tool. We recommend to install the (opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)Read and Write and practice using it before your exam. On the day of the exam, access Brightspace in Google Chrome browser and use the 'Hover Speech' function to have text read aloud.
Scribe support may no longer be required during online exams. However, if you still would like to work with a Scribe for an online exam, please email us at (opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)disability@ucd.ie to arrange it.
Alternative Exam Location
Assistive Technology
Brailled Paper
Close to Bathroom
Colour Blindness Awareness
Diabetes Awareness
Computer
Digital Dictaphone Recorder
Enlarged Paper
Epilepsy Awareness
Digital Exam Paper
Extra Time (10 mins per hour)
Food and Drink
Low Distraction Booth
Mobility Difficulty Awareness
Movement During Exams
Narcolepsy Awareness
Printed MCQs
Reader
Scribe
Scribe for MCQs
Spelling and Grammar Consideration
Separate Room
Use of a Service Dog
Wheelchair Access