Pupils with anxiety will be allowed to listen to music during exams

Pupils with special needs such as anxiety and depression will be allowed to listen to music during this year's exams.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has updated its guidelines for formal examinations to state that some students will be permitted to listen to music or white noise if they have a "substantial impairment".

Pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs or a sensory impairment such as tinnitus or misophonia will be eligible for the "reasonable adjustment" from this year.

The Government's code of practice for disabilities says social, emotional and mental health needs might include anxiety, depression and eating disorders, or other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).

Misophonia is a rare neurological disorder that invokes "an extreme emotional reaction to certain everyday sounds" such as "keyboard tapping and rustling paper", according to the NHS.

The update, first reported by Schools Week, will sit alongside other "access arrangements" already in force, including pupils' ability to apply for extra time, a laptop, or supervised rest breaks.

It will be available to students sitting their GCSEs, A-levels, BTECs and T-levels. Applicants must provide "specialist evidence" of an underlying condition, such as a formal diagnosis from a consultant.

JCQ, which represents the eight-largest qualification providers in the UK, said exam centres must ensure that any candidate granted permission to listen to music or white noise "uses a device which is not connected to the internet ".

Invigilators must also check pupils' playlists "to ensure that no advantage is conferred to the candidate" during their formal exams.

A study by researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University published last month said that "public interest in the potential benefits of white noise for ADHD has recently mushroomed".

It found that white noise, which is a static-like sound that contains all audible sound frequencies in equal measure, "improved cognitive performance for children and young adults with ADHD" but did the opposite for children without the condition.

A JCQ spokesperson said: "Since the pandemic we've found that there have been more requests from schools and colleges about pupils with disabilities... needing to have music or white noise playing in the background during an examination."

'Giving pupils every opportunity to succeed'

Pepe Di'Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was "reasonable" to expect exam access arrangements to evolve alongside improved understandings of special educational needs and mental health conditions.

"School and college leaders will always want to give their pupils every opportunity to succeed and access arrangements are a way of ensuring nobody is unfairly disadvantaged," he told Schools Week.

However, he also warned that the increasing number of special arrangements for formal exams posed potential logistical and financial challenges for schools.

"Recruiting and training sufficient invigilators is often very difficult," the union leader said.

More than 550,000 "access arrangements" were granted in 2022/23, up 8.7 per cent compared to the previous year, according to Department for Education data.

In total, 28.2 per cent of all pupils registered for exams in England were granted extra time last year.