WSET Reasonable Adjustment Policy
Commonwealth Wine School seeks to assess all students in a way that puts them at no disadvantage, or advantage, over other students.
A reasonable adjustment is any action that helps to reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty that places the student at a substantial disadvantage in the assessment situation. Reasonable adjustments must be considered and approved by WSET in advance and put in place before the assessment activity takes place; they constitute an arrangement to give the student access to the qualification. The use of a reasonable adjustment is not taken into consideration during the assessment of a student’s work.
Reasonable adjustments must not give unfair advantage over students for whom reasonable adjustments are not being made or affect the reliability and validity of the assessment outcomes as detailed in the applicable specification.
Reasonable adjustments may involve:
Changing standard assessment arrangements, for example allowing students extra time to complete the assessment activity;
Adapting assessment materials, such as providing materials in large text format;
Providing access facilitators during assessment, such as a sign language interpreter or reader;
Re-organizing the assessment room, such as removal of visual stimuli for an autistic student.
If students need to contact CWS about a reasonable adjustment or provide additional information, they can contact Adam Chase at adam@commonwealthwineschool.com . Students should submit applications for reasonable adjustments 5 or more weeks prior to a Level 1, 2 or 3 Course and 9 weeks prior to a Diploma course, given WSET’s review timeline. Any supporting documentation shared with WSET under these two policies will be handled in accordance with WSET’s Privacy and Data Protection policy
Applying for a reasonable adjustment
Commonwealth Wine School will identify at the time of a student’s enrolment any special needs which may require a reasonable adjustment at the time of the examination. Commonwealth Wine School will submit a Reasonable Adjustment Application Form to the WSET or other certifying body at least four weeks before the examination date in the case of WSET qualifications at Levels 1-3 and at least eight weeks before the examination date in the case of the WSET Level 4 Diploma. Supporting evidence must be provided with the completed form.
The specific arrangements for the examination process itself, or for marking, will be agreed in each case between Commonwealth Wine School, WSET Awards, or any other certifying body and will vary according to individual circumstances. In the case of WSET, WSET Awards reserves the right to seek the advice of independent agencies as appropriate in coming to a decision on specific arrangements. Please note that Commonwealth Wine School cannot offer reasonable adjustments to any students until this has been agreed with WSET Awards.
Students and their advisors should be aware that it is not appropriate to make requests for reasonable adjustments where the student’s difficulty directly affects performance in the attributes that are the focus of the assessment.
Commonwealth Wine School and WSET will keep records of all reasonable adjustment applications.
Contact Information:
Commonwealth Wine School, 35 Dunster Street, 1st Floor, Cambridge MA 02138
info@commonwealthwineschool.com