Candidates with special needs
Special Provisions: Visual impairment | Dyslexia | Hearing impairment | Mobility Disabilities | Acquired brain injury | Psychiatric disability | Other disabilities
The AMEB (NSW) is committed to providing quality examinations for all candidates, including those with disabilities. We aim to ensure that all candidates have access to the examination process and are able to demonstrate their skills in the examination to the best of their ability.
Candidates with disabilities will be offered the same examining standards as those applied to all other candidates. No concessions are made regarding the assessment criteria used. However we will make special provisions for candidates who provide medical documentation of their disabilities and the special assessment needs which these necessitate.
We must be informed of the candidate’s special assessment needs in writing at the time of enrolment, or as soon as practicable after that time if a condition becomes apparent or worsens after the closing date for enrolments. A request should be submitted for each exam for which the candidate enrolls, as information about special needs will not be kept on our system beyond the series of exams concerned. The only exception to this rule is where the candidate’s needs are not likely to change from one exam series to another. For example, “higher grade aural tests not sight reading” continues to be relevant to a blind candidate and we do not expect candidates to reapply each year for this provision.
The applicant or their guardian must sign their application for special provisions to state that they give permission for the candidate’s special needs to be provided to the examiner. Recent medical documentation of the candidate’s disability must be attached to the application.
Requests will be assessed by the Office Manager and Client Services Manager and applicants will be advised of the AMEB’s decision within one month of lodging their request. Applicants may appeal the AMEB’s decision providing that they lodge their appeal within 14 days of receipt of the decision. Any appeal must be accompanied by additional medical documentation and will be assessed by the State Manager.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS WHICH MAY BE PROVIDED DEPENDING ON MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED
VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
For candidates who are legally blind or partially sighted:
Written exams
- Theory, Musicianship and Speech and Performance Theory papers may be transcribed into Braille.
- Large print versions of papers may be prepared (please specify enlargement ratio required)
- Extra time may be provided
- A
scribe may be used, providing that he or she is neither the candidate’s
teacher nor a relative of the candidate. Their role is to read
the questions and transcribe the candidate’s answers: they
may not answer the questions themselves. The scribe is to be
provided by the candidate. If a scribe is used, separate
supervision will be arranged.
Practical exams
- Sight reading may be enlarged (enlargement ratio must be specified)
- Braille sight reading
- A memory version of sight reading may be used in exams. This would involve the examiner playing the sight reading for the grade in two bar sections and the candidate playing it back, also in two bar phrases. The examiner would play each phrase twice before the candidate plays it back.
- Aural tests from the grade above the grade being examined may be substituted for sight reading
- Candidates may enlarge their music without breaching copyright providing that they own the original music and it is controlled by an AMCOS publisher. (see A Practical Copyright Guide to the Use of Print Music in Australia). As General Knowledge questions are generally taken from the piano part, it is the responsibility of the candidate to provide an enlarged version if required.
- Electronic organ exams involve a melodic improvisation test in the “Creative Work” section. Candidates are required to improvise a melody over a given accompaniment pattern and rhythm provided in written form. Examiners may instead tap the rhythmic pattern and verbally tell the candidate the chord progression required to ensure that this section of the exam can be completed.
DYSLEXIA
Written exams
Candidates with medically documented dyslexia may be allowed additional time to complete the exam. They may also request coloured paper (colour must be specified) if required. The AMEB will notify written assessors of cases where a candidate’s written expression may be affected by their condition.
A reader may be requested. If agreed to, no extra time will be granted. Certification that a reader is required must be provided by a medical practitioner or psychologist. The reader will be provided by the candidate and may not be a relative or teacher of the candidate.
Practical exams
Where a candidate finds it easier to read from coloured paper in a practical examination, it will be their responsibility to provide a photocopied coloured paper version of their music. The original must also be brought to the examination to comply with copyright regulations. The AMEB may provide sight reading on coloured paper (colour must be specified) in practical examinations. Extra time may be allowed for the preparation of sight reading.
HEARING IMPAIRMENT
Candidates with a medically documented hearing impairment may request:
Written exams:
• Seating near the front of the room
• An oral/sign interpreter provided by the candidate and separate
supervision where appropriate
Practical exams:
- Higher grade sight reading instead of aural tests
- Aural tests conducted in a way that do not require the candidate to face away from the examiner
- An oral/sign interpreter provided by the candidate
MOBILITY DISABILITIES
Venues provided by the AMEB at Clarence St and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music are wheel chair accessible. Candidates with mobility disabilities should request an examination studio on the entry level at the Conservatorium High School to avoid the necessity to use stairs etc, as lifts are not always operational on Saturdays. Teachers using private studios should ask the venue owner what provisions are available to ensure access for their candidates. The AMEB (NSW) is not responsible for lack of wheelchair accessibility at private venues.
ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY
Candidates who experience mental processing difficulty or slowness as a result of a medically documented condition may apply for extra time in written examinations and a scribe to be provided by the candidate where applicable. Separate supervision may be provided where appropriate.
PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITY
Candidates who experience anxiety, difficulty with concentration or cognition as a result of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or other documented psychiatric conditions may apply for extra time in written exams. Separate supervision may be provided where appropriate.
OTHER DISABILITIES
Each case will be considered on its merits and each application must be supported by current medical documentation. In some cases such as behavioural problems, candidates may not require special provisions but the examiner may still be made aware of how the nature of the condition may affect the examination.