Extra time & access arrangements
Can my child use a laptop or word processor in exams?
Yes - if typing is the student's normal way of working at school, for example because of a handwriting difficulty or some specific learning difficulty profiles. The school makes the decision under JCQ rules and provides the device: a locked-down word processor with no internet access, and spell-check typically disabled on papers where spelling earns marks. The key is establishing that normal way of working early, in class, well before exam season.
Last updated 29 July 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
Who a word processor is for
The word-processor arrangement exists for students whose barrier is the physical act of writing: a motor or coordination difficulty, an injury, illegible or painfully slow handwriting, or some specific learning difficulty profiles where typing frees up what handwriting consumes. The test is practical, not diagnostic - is typing how this student normally produces written work at school, and does handwriting genuinely disadvantage them in a way typing removes?
Notice what the arrangement is not: a comfort upgrade for anyone who prefers a keyboard, or a spelling aid. It puts the student's words on the page by a different route; it does not change what the exam measures.
What the exam laptop is actually like
Put the family MacBook out of your mind. The school provides and controls the device, set up for exam conditions: word processing only, no internet, no files, no predictive text - and on papers where spelling, punctuation and grammar earn marks, spell-check is typically disabled too, so those marks are earned the same way as everyone else's. The typed answers are printed or submitted under the same security as handwritten scripts.
The exact configuration per paper follows the boards' rules, and it varies with what each paper assesses - your school's exams officer sets each device up accordingly. If your child uses one, ask the school to let them practise on the actual exam setup at least once; a familiar machine on the day is worth a great deal of calm.
Establishing "normal way of working" - start now
Like every access arrangement, a word processor must reflect how the student normally works - used routinely for classwork, assessments and mocks, not conjured for exam week. That track record is the evidence the school relies on when it puts the arrangement in place under the JCQ rules, so the earlier typing becomes the student's everyday mode for written work at school, the stronger the case.
Concretely: raise it with the SENCo as soon as handwriting looks like a genuine barrier - Year 9 or 10 rather than Year 11. Ask for typing to be agreed as the normal mode for extended writing in class, and for mocks to be sat on the exam setup. By the time real exams arrive, the arrangement should be boring: just how this student works, with a paper trail to prove it.