Reform exam access rules. Allow students with severe dyslexia to split exams — 8 signatures. Status: rejected.
Review Ofqual and JCQ guidelines to allow students with severe dyslexia or text-decoding bottlenecks to officially split any exam papers into separate, managed sittings across a single day or days rather than capping support at 25% extra time.
The current 25% extra time rule treats all dyslexia the same. Children who must manually segment words letter-by-letter face immense cognitive exhaustion. Forcing them to sit a long paper all at once tests their physical endurance, not their knowledge. Denying split sittings over security fears unfairly punishes the child for the system's logistical limits. If security is a concern, the government should provide alternative papers rather than forcing children into brain fatigue.
View this petition on the official UK Parliament website