The College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities

PSAT, SAT, SAT II, and AP

The College Board’s Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) is committed to serving all students fairly. If you are eligible, you can take these tests with appropriate accommodations.

Eligibility Requirements

A student with a documented disability may be eligible for accommodations on College Board tests. A SSD Student Eligibility Form must be submitted for each student requesting accommodations. To be eligible, the student must:

Have a disability that necessitates testing accommodations,
Have documentation on file at school that supports the need for the requested accommodations and meets the Guidelines for Documentation, and
Receive the requested accommodations, due to the disability, for school-based tests.

If any of these requirements are not met, a student may appeal. Because FRA does not grant accommodations for LD students, all of our students requesting extra time or other accommodations must go through the appeal process.

Am I Eligible?

If you have a disability that requires testing accommodations and your school has documentation on file from a qualified professional, then you may be eligible for accommodations.

Do you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to learn?
Does this disability make it hard to take tests in the traditional manner?
Do you receive accommodations for the tests you take in school? (extra time, a different version of the test, etc.)
Are you part of a resource room or special education class?
Do you have documents on file at your school that show you have a disability that requires test accommodations?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be eligible for special accommodation.

How Do I Become Approved For Accommodations On The Sat?

If you are requesting accommodations that require a nonstandard administration of the test, there is a specific process that schools must follow. Remember: If you have an evaluation stating that you should receive special accommodations for SAT and ACT, it does not automatically guarantee that you are eligible for these accommodations. First, you need to meet the basic eligibility requirements.

The documentation on file at your school needs to:

state the specific disability, as diagnosed;
be current (in most cases, the evaluation should be completed within three years of the request for accommodations);
provide relevant educational, developmental, and medical history;
describe the comprehensive testing and techniques used to arrive at the diagnosis including evaluation date(s) and test results with subtest scores from measures of cognitive ability, current academic achievement, and information processing;
describe the functional limitations supported by the test results;
describe the specific accommodations requested, and state why the student’s disability qualifies the student for such accommodations on standardized tests; and
establish the professional credentials of the evaluator, including information about license or certification and area of specialization.

NOTE: As of October 1, 2003, The College Board discontinued the practice of identifying score reports on standardized tests taken by students who require extended test-taking time due to documented disabilities. Such special testing accommodations have been identified in the past on the score report by the words "nonstandard administration," a practice commonly referred to as "flagging."

How Does the Process Work?

You only have to submit one SSD Student Eligibility form to request accommodations on College Board tests (AP, SAT, and PSAT/NMSQT), and as long as you’re enrolled at the same school, your school-approved accommodations will remain the same throughout high school. If you’re approved for accommodations, SSD will send you a SSD Eligibility Letter which includes the accommodations for which you’ve been approved and your unique SSD Code. Use this code when communicating with the College Board’s SSD office. To receive approved accommodations on the SAT, just include a copy of this letter with your registration. In the future, you will be able to use your SSD Code to register online. Submit your SSD Student Eligibility Form early, preferably in the spring prior to the year in which you take your first College Board test.

When Should I Start?

It is strongly suggested that you fill out all the necessary information on your SSD Student Eligibility Form as early as possible. Once you have completed pages 1 and 2 of the SSD Student Eligibility Form and your parent/guardian has signed it (if you’re under 18 years old), give it to your counselor for completion of the School Certification section; then, it needs to be sent to SSD as soon as possible ¬ no later than the published deadlines. Doing this early means that you can ensure processing before the tests. You need to know that it has become increasingly more difficult over the past several years to obtain certification from The College Board (or ACT, which follows a similar process). To better your chances of being certified for extra time or cassettes for reading, you should have a history of learning disabilities which is documented for several years; approved documentation which shows a marked difference in scores; and a strong recommendation from a qualified professional which clearly states the need for specific accommodations.

(Adapted from The College Board website)