Equality and fair access
The Equality Act 2010 provides a legal framework which protects the rights of individuals from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics. Every person has several protected characteristics, including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, and sexual orientation, so the Act protects against unfair treatment.
During the end-point assessment, the types of adjustments offered may include but aren’t limited to, changes to elements such as:
- the location and timing of the assessment
- the format, wording or type of assessment activity
- the availability of support personnel for additional needs
- the availability of adaptive software or hardware, or specialist equipment.
These adjustments should mirror the types of reasonable adjustments and additional support that the apprentice has received from their employer and/or training provider during their apprenticeship programme.
It is important that reasonable adjustments do not affect the reliability or validity of the assessment and they should not give the apprentice an advantage over other apprentices undertaking the same assessment.