Re your article (One in five pupils granted more time to sit key exams, 22 November), if we are serious about inclusion and access for all, we must question the copious amounts of time spent testing children and young people to identify their “abnormal” needs for time, prior to taking written exams. Far better to accept that it is normal for everyone to work at different speeds, and to give everyone the time they need to do the task.
This might entail specifying an average time for each exam, with all candidates given the option of, say, an additional 30% if they feel they need that time. This would appear to be in the spirit of the Equality Act 2010, where educational institutions are required to “advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it”.
Judith Flynn
Manchester
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