Asking for Assessment Adjustments: A Practical Guide for Neurodivergent Candidates
How to request reasonable adjustments or accommodations for an online assessment, what employers can realistically offer, when to ask, and what happens to the information you disclose.
A timed online assessment is a measuring instrument, and like any instrument it can measure the wrong thing. A speeded verbal task given to a dyslexic candidate without adjustment measures reading speed rather than reasoning. Adjustments exist to stop that happening, and the practical problem is that almost nobody tells candidates how to ask for them.
What an adjustment is for
The point of an adjustment is not to make a test easier. It is to remove a barrier that is unrelated to the thing being assessed, so the result reflects the ability the employer actually cares about. That framing matters, because it is the framing that gets requests granted.
A request phrased as “I would find this hard” is a request for an advantage. A request phrased as “without extra time this test measures my reading speed rather than my reasoning” is a request for a valid measurement, and it is the same request stated in terms the employer can act on.
What is realistically available
Assessment platforms are more configurable than most candidates assume. These are the adjustments that are commonly implementable rather than the ones that sound reasonable in theory.
When to ask, in order
Timing is where most requests go wrong. The sequence that works:
- At application, if there is a box. Many application forms include a question about adjustments. Answering it creates a record and routes you to the right team automatically.
- On receiving the invitation, at the latest. Reply to the invitation email before you open the assessment link. Once you have started a test, changing its configuration is frequently impossible.
- Immediately if something goes wrong mid-test. A crash, a timer that behaves oddly, a section that will not render with your assistive software. Report it the same day, in writing, with times.
- Not after the result. Occasionally an employer will offer a re-sit if a genuine access failure occurred, but you are asking someone to reverse a decision rather than to configure a test.
What you do and do not have to disclose
You are generally not required to explain your diagnosis in detail to get a practical adjustment, and many employers deliberately route these requests away from hiring managers so the decision-maker never sees them. What an employer typically needs is the functional impact and the specific adjustment, not the medical history.
In practice, a request of the form “I have a condition that affects reading speed; please can I have 25 per cent extra time on the timed sections” is usually enough. Some employers ask for evidence such as a diagnostic report or an educational access arrangement letter, and asking what evidence they need is a reasonable first reply.
Where the information goes afterwards is a fair question to ask, and it connects to a wider set of rights covered in what happens to your assessment data.
How to phrase the request
Which formats cause the most trouble, and why
Speeded batteries
Tests built entirely around rate, such as the Thomas Aptitude assessment's five short tasks or checking sections generally, are the hardest case. Extra time on a pure speed test alters what is being measured, so employers sometimes prefer to substitute a different assessment rather than adjust this one. That is a legitimate outcome and worth proposing yourself if the alternative is a meaningless score.
Tests with hidden source material
Formats that hide the data behind tabs, or that remove a statement before you answer, place a heavy load on working memory that has nothing to do with the reasoning being assessed. Worth naming explicitly if working memory is the affected function.
Video interviews
Short preparation windows and a single recording attempt are the barrier here. Common adjustments are longer thinking time, more takes, or a live interview instead. Our video interview practice is worth using to work out which of those you actually need.
Game-based assessments
These frequently depend on reaction time, motor precision or rapid visual processing. Vendors vary enormously in what they can adjust, and the honest answer is sometimes that the instrument cannot be made accessible, in which case an alternative stage is the right ask.
A note on the anxiety side of this
Many candidates who would benefit from an adjustment never ask, because they believe it marks their application. That fear is understandable and, in most large recruitment processes, misplaced: adjustment requests are usually handled by a separate team and reach the assessor as a configuration rather than as a note about you.
The alternative is sitting an instrument that measures the wrong thing and then competing against a percentile derived from it. If the anxiety itself is the main barrier rather than the format, the guide to test anxiety on timed assessments covers the parts of that you can work on directly.
This article describes common practice rather than the law in your jurisdiction. If you need to know your specific entitlements, an employment adviser, a disability employment service or your university careers service will give you a definitive answer for your market.