Learner Supports
In all centres, learners are encouraged, upon application for admission, to disclose any special needs or disabilities they may have, in order that appropriate supports or reasonable accommodations may be put in place. Where such a disclosure is made, an appropriate staff member will meet the learner to discuss the nature of the supports that may be required. Depending on the nature of those supports, and the centre in which the course is being delivered, that staff member may be the centre manager, guidance counsellor, the course coordinator, or the class teacher. The nature of the supports may involve application for a HEA grant in the context of a PLC student (e.g. for laptop, sign language interpreter etc.) and other reasonable accommodations, such as extra time in an exam. New guidelines around reasonable accommodations are being developed by the ETBI Assessment Procedures Working Group, and these will inform the development of the common LOETB policy on reasonable accommodations.
Every reasonable effort is made to support learners with difficulties, either before admission or once they have started on the course. These differences might include prior learning or experience, maturity, differing capabilities or other. In this case, the supports needed will be agreed in consultation with the learner, and could include one-to-one learning supports around additional literacy or maths needs, or other additional tutoring where this may be required. However, it is acknowledged that not all support needs may be able to be met within the physical, financial, and staffing restrictions within which the centre and LOETB must operate.
The pilot project currently being run with the Adult Literacy service and the Apprenticeship Senior Training Advisors (referenced in Section 9) provides additional supports to apprentices as required to support successful progression throughout all phases of the apprenticeship.
LOETB engages with stakeholders to provide relevant specialist supports for all learners, including those with a disability. Learners are supported to access the Fund for Students with Disabilities. LOETB provides a range of IT supports for learners with disabilities. These include ‘BrowseAloud’, ‘Text Help Read Write Gold’, ‘Touch Type Read and Spell’, ‘Inspiration’ and ‘Clicker 6’.
Further Information:
