This consultation ended 24 October 2025.
Reviewing responses
The responses to this consultation are currently being reviewed. Details of the outcome will be published here in due course.
Original consultation
We want your views on proposals to make changes to the reasonable adjustments specification to ensure that learners in Wales with impairments and/or disabilities are not precluded from accessing qualifications.
Consultation description
We are consulting on proposals to make an exceptional rule on exemption of assessment for specific GCSE qualifications. These exceptional rules are proposed to allow awarding bodies scope to apply the provision for exemptions to enable learners with certain impairments or disabilities to access these specific qualifications.
The exception rules proposed are as follows:
- Add an exception for GCSE Core Cymraeg, so that 50% of the qualification assessment can be exempted as a reasonable adjustment where no other reasonable adjustment is available.
- For the current GCSE Welsh Second Language qualification the proposal is to add an exception so that 50% (opposed to 40%) of the qualification assessment can be exempted as a reasonable adjustment where no other reasonable adjustment is available, for those learners who will be assessed against that qualification in the 2026 examination series. The current GCSE Welsh Second Language qualification will cease to be taught in schools to new Year 10 learners from September 2025, when the qualification will be replaced by GCSE Core Cymraeg.
- For GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature and GCSE English Language and Literature to make a change to the specifications so that partial exemption of one or more components is allowed as a reasonable adjustment where no other reasonable adjustment is available.
Consultation documents
Help and support
Large print, Braille and alternative language versions of this document are available on request.