Alternative Testing Arrangements and Submission Requirements

Alternative Testing Arrangements Not Requiring Documentation

Accommodations available without pre-approval. Please note that all test centers are wheelchair-accessible and all examinees will have access to visual enhancement features including color contrast and enlarged font. Additionally, test centers allow a variety of comfort aids; see the complete list at Pearson VUE's Comfort Aids page link opens in a new window. These features are available without prior approval.

In addition, all candidates are permitted to take breaks (e.g., for those with hypoglycemia or diabetes) to use the restroom, take medication, use an inhaler, etc., without prior approval. Any time taken for these breaks is considered part of the candidate's available testing time.

Accommodations requiring pre-approval. The following alternative testing arrangements may be requested because of a disability without supporting documentation (e.g., visual impairment, motor disability, illness, injury) and can be accommodated at all test centers:

  • Allowance of a medical device in the testing room
  • Use of a trackball mouse

To request any of the alternative arrangements listed above, you must

  1. complete your registration; and
  2. submit a completed Alternative Testing Arrangements Request Form, indicating the nature of and reason for the request.

Alternative Testing Arrangements Requiring Documentation

The Alternative Testing Arrangements Request Form must be submitted each time you register. The first time that you request alternative testing arrangements, you will need to submit required documentation to support your request for alternative testing arrangements. Evaluation Systems will keep your documentation on file for one year. If you register for subsequent test dates within that year, you only need to complete a registration and submit a completed Alternative Testing Arrangements Request Form, as long as your condition and the requested alternative testing arrangements have not changed.

If you wish to request arrangements other than those listed in "Alternative Testing Arrangements Not Requiring Documentation" above (e.g., additional time), you must

  1. complete your registration;
  2. submit a completed Alternative Testing Arrangements Request Form, identifying the disability and the specific arrangements requested; and
  3. submit one of the following:
    1. appropriate documentation, as described in "Required Documentation"

      OR, if applicable,

    2. your college or university may submit an Institution's Verification of Documentation PDF, printed on official institution letterhead (see Institution's Verification of Documentation for information)

You must submit appropriate documentation directly to Evaluation Systems for review in support of a request for alternative testing arrangements if you are not eligible to submit an Institution's Verification of Documentation (see Institution's Verification of Documentation more information).

All documentation must meet all of the following requirements:

  • It must include a signed statement by a qualified professional, written on that person's professional letterhead, whose license or credentials are appropriate to describe or diagnose the disability.
  • It must include a diagnosis of the disability or disabilities.
  • It must include recommended alternative testing arrangements that are specifically related to the disability and that are reasonable within the context of this licensing test, or verification that the candidate has received the requested alternative testing arrangement(s) at the high school or college/university level.
  • It must be current, according to the Documentation Currency Policy more information.

Additionally, if you are requesting alternative testing arrangements because of a learning or cognitive disability, your documentation must include:

  • A full educational history with complete documentation of special education services, including other disability-related alternative testing arrangements, received within the past five years, along with the name, date, and results of the diagnostic test(s) or evaluation(s), designed for purposes other than screening, administered within the past five years*, used to document the disability (test results should demonstrate the current functional impact of your disability)

    • or

  • Results of a psychological, neuropsychological, or psychoeducational diagnostic test battery, designed for purposes other than screening, administered within the past five years*, interpreted by a qualified professional whose license or credentials are appropriate to diagnose the condition (test results demonstrate the current functional impact of your disability)

    • or

  • Results of an evaluation interpreted by a licensed professional verifying physical abnormalities as evidenced by a computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalogram (EEG), or brain topography mapping test administered within the past five years*

Documentation, in itself, does not automatically support the granting of alternative testing arrangements.

*See Documentation Currency Policy more information for exceptions.

Requesting Additional Time

The test session is designed to allow sufficient time to complete the test. Candidates may find the allotted testing time to be more than enough to complete the test, even if they have needed extra time on other tests they have taken in the past. Please keep in mind that you are automatically given four hours to take one subtest of the Communication and Literacy Skills test or the General Curriculum test if you register for only one subtest.

For Examinees with Disabilities

For Individuals for Whom English Is Not a Primary Language

For questions regarding alternative testing arrangements, please call MTEL Customer Service at (866) 565-4894 (toll free, US and Canada only).

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