Guidelines for SAC provision in Digital Exams and CATs
For all enquiries, please email sac@nzqa.govt.nz
Schools should carefully consider whether Digital Exams are appropriate for SAC students dependent on their specific circumstances and resourcing/logistical implications.
This guide is intended to assist schools in the application of these SAC entitlements when students are entered for any of the Digital Exams.
A digital supervisor can monitor from a central location up to ten students who are separately accommodated with an exam assistant or those who need to be isolated.
Entitlement
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Computer
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- As all Digital Exams require the use of a computer, no additional accommodations are provided. However, computers used by SAC students should be set up in the same way as if they were not sitting the Digital Exam as these students may opt out of all or part of the digital exam and revert to “ordinary” SAC computer use, where printing must be made available.
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Small Group Separate Accommodation
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- If this has been granted only because the student also has an entitlement for computer use, then the student is accommodated like any other student doing the Digital Exam.
- If this has been approved for a reason other than computer use alone, then you must decide whether you can manage this entitlement in a Digital Exam room or the students still need separate rooming (e.g. availability of room, supervisor, etc.).
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Isolated Separate Accommodation
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- You must decide whether you can manage Isolated Separate Accommodation for a Digital Exam (e.g. availability of room, supervisor, etc.).
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Writer
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- Although it is possible for a Writer to type for a student in a Digital Exam there seems to be little point in doing this. We recommend that students entitled to a Writer sit the paper-based exam. The decision for a writer to type is made by the Writer, not the student. You must decide whether you have the resources to manage a Writer/Typist for a Digital Exam (e.g. availability of a typist, room, etc.).
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Reader
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- There is currently no text to voice capability in the Digital Exams so in most cases we recommend students sit the paper-based exam. While a Reader can be used for the digital exam, we do not recommend this unless it has been trialled, so both the student and the reader are confident. You must decide whether you have the resources to manage a Reader for a Digital Exam (e.g. availability of room, etc.).
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Extra Time
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- Extra writing time is granted as for paper-based exams.
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Rest Breaks
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- Rest Breaks are granted as for paper-based exams.
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Special Papers
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- Students have the ability to change the font size in their typed responses. Students will not be able to change the font size of a question but can use the zoom function of the browser to increase its size. It will not be possible to change the background screen colour.
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Complex Issues
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- If a student has complex issues requiring specialised support, please contact the NZQA SAC team at sac@nzqa.govt.nz.
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MCAT
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- As this is administered by schools and not a November exam, you will not find it on the SAC exams processing lists for your students.
- However, you do need to provide SAC for this assessment. Provide a Reader and/or Writer/Typist if the student wants to use them. Extra Time entitlements: provide 10 minutes as it is a one-hour exam. Rest Breaks: as needed, up to 10 minutes extra.
- A student may opt to swap Computer and Writer for Extra Time if extra time is not already one of their entitlements.
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Digital Technologies CATs
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- As these are administered by schools and are not November exams, you will not find them on the SAC exams processing lists for your students.
- However, you do need to provide SAC for these assessments. Provide a Reader and/or Typist or reading and/or speech-to-text software if the student wants to use them. Extra Time and/or Rest Break entitlements: there are two one-hour standards at each level but as each session is 3 hours the third hour will be sufficient for extra time and rest breaks if needed.
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