PSAT Accommodations For Every Student

Before a student decides to appear for a certain exam, such as the PSAT, with accommodations, they need to process a request for accommodations that will be approved by the College Board’s services for students with disabilities.

If a student has a diagnosed mental, physical, sensory or learning disability, they can be eligible for the PSAT accommodations. This article will elaborate on some key information about PSAT accommodations and the process of applying for them.

PSAT Accommodations List

PSAT accommodations for students with disabilities, such that students can apply for when volunteering for a PSAT exam, include the following:

• Extended time: Approval to receive a longer than standard testing time, such as 50% expansion.
• Brakes: Longer breaks or additional breaks, as compared to those given to students during standard test administration.
• Reading and seeing accommodations: a large print test, a human reader, braille with raised line drawings, and a magnification device.
• Recording responses: In case of the disability of student affairs, their ability to record responses for college board tests, they can apply for multiple accommodations.
• Use of a Four-Function Calculator: Use a four-function calculator in test sections that do not allow the use of a calculator.
• Assistive technology: Using an electronic magnifying machine, speech-to-text, screen reader, talking, electronic calculator, or other similar technologies.

PSAT Accommodations: Timeline and Options 

The college board provides multiple accommodations, including 100% extended time, 50% extended time, extra or extended breaks, small groups, testing, sign language, interpreters, readers and more. In order to become eligible for testing accommodations, a student should have a documented disability. 

The PSAT accommodations application and review process might require around seven weeks; hence, you are advised to start the application process as early as possible. The college board recommends that students apply for the PSAT accommodations during the spring before the test is administered. Many students appear for the PSAT for the first attempt in October during their junior year. They must apply for the PSAT accommodations during their sophomore year’s spring. 

However, students who take the PSAT as a sophomore are advised to apply for accommodations during their ninth-grade spring. In several cases, if a student gets approved for accommodations, they come into effect for any college board test a student appears in, including SAT, PSAT, and AP exams. 

PSAT Accommodations: Application Process

The application process for PSAT accommodations is easy, and students can apply for PSAT accommodations with or without their school’s assistance.

Requesting Through School

In case the student applies for PSAT accommodations with the help of their school, the school official will proceed with the request for accommodations via the services of the college board for students with disabilities online system. As a parent, you must contact your child’s school for certain instructions on how to initiate an application.

Steps to apply for the PSAT accommodations through the school:

• Contact the SSD coordinator of the school as soon as your student is confirmed to apply for the accommodations.
• Before processing the application, the student’s parents should sign the parent consent form. However, if the student is over 18, they should also sign the form.
• The SSD coordinator enters requested accommodations, contact information, authentic information about the disability of the student and a formal accommodations plan.
• If documentation is required, the SSD coordinator checks it against SSD guidelines and then submits it online through SSD.
• The SSD coordinator receives the decision online in SSD. The students can also receive the notice and postal mail; if they require a copy of the decision letter, they must contact SSD customer service. 

In case of the approval of the accommodations, the decision letter comes with an eligibility letter, including test-by-test details. The eligibility and decision letters include the code of student eligibility, which is required for exam registration. 

Requesting by Self

If a student decides to apply for PSAT accommodations without their school’s assistance, they should complete and submit the student eligibility form. However, ensure to carefully read all the mentioned instructions to complete the student eligibility form before completing and submitting it. 

Steps to apply for the PSAT accommodations without the school:

• Before you proceed with the accommodations application process, make sure that you really need those accommodations. The college board tests are conducted in a quiet and structured setting. It is essential to consider the way in which the students function in this particular environment. There might be chances that the accommodations needed by the student for home or school are not essential on a college board test.
• Learn about the deadlines and dates to begin early. Each paper request gets reviewed by the SSD along with the accompanying document. Hence, processing may take around seven weeks.
• Complete the student eligibility form, print it out, and gather all the other necessary documentation.
• Submitting the documentation is necessary when using a paper student eligibility form.
• Fax or mail the completed form along with the documentation to SSD. Remember, incomplete requests will not receive approval, so proceed with the new request. The approval process will require another seven weeks.

Conclusion

The College Board offers several accommodations for the PSAT exam for the appearing students. However, there are certain requirements and conditions to be examined before applying for these accommodations. In most cases, students with certain disabilities get approval for these accommodations. If you are an appearing student for the PSAT exam, prepare effectively and become well-learned with the Turito online learning platform.

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