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Hi Emma, I would be asking the Ed Psych why an open book is the only way to assess the student's knowledge. Is it related to concentration, trouble remembering what he has read, difficulty understanding the key concepts, spelling or other issue. I think you don't just accept what the Ed psych is saying but tie them down to what is the student's problem. What type of closed book exam is the student sitting for? Is it essay type questions, if so can someone explain the key concepts to the student or can the questions be broken down into short answer types. Other alternatives include explaination of the key concepts and an oral examination. If it is a question of concentration, perhaps the exam could be broken into 2 parts to be administered at different times on the same day or the following day. If it is multiple choice questions I do not think that an open book exam would be a fair way to assess this student's knowledge in comparison with other students. If it is a question of spelling, the use of a computerduring the exam and supplied by the uni so the student can use something like HelpText may be another option. Certainly extra time should be available or an untimed exam where the student takes as long as is needed to complete the exam. This way you are assessing the student's knowledge rather than how fast they can write. One further strategy is to allow the student to take in a list of the correctly spelled key words either with or without an explaination of what they mean depending on the type of exam. For example if it is an exam where students are required to provide a definition of the words then just the spelling of the key words would be appropriate. I would be interested to find out why the Ed Psych has only suggested the open book exam. Lastly I think you would meet resistance from the academics. Good luck. Di Paez Equity Officer Sunshine Coast University College Locked Bag No. 4 Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia, 4556 Ph 61+07 54 30 1226 Fax 61+07 54 30 1231 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%