Accommodations
Testing centers can define accommodations that students may need during exams. This guide explains how to configure accommodations, assign them to students, and set up seat groups so that students are placed in appropriate testing environments.
Assigning Accommodations to Students
Center staff with the Student Editor role (or higher) can assign accommodations and time limit extensions to students. There are three ways to do this from the Students page:
- Search for the student. The search covers students in your institution, students enrolled in courses linked to your center, and pending entries, matching on UID, name, or UIN. Open the student and edit their accommodations on their Settings tab.
- Add accommodations for UID/UIN. This adds accommodations for a single student by UID and/or UIN, even if they have never logged in to PrairieTest. If the center cannot manage the student yet, the settings are saved as pending and applied automatically when the student becomes manageable by the center, such as after they enroll in a linked course. Pending entries show up in search results with a "Pending" badge. For a student who already has settings, the accommodations you select are added to their existing ones.
- Upload accommodations from CSV. This sets accommodations for many students at once. The CSV has one row per student with
uid,uin,accommodations(semicolon-separated abbreviations), andtime_extension_perccolumns; a template is available in the upload dialog. Each row needs a UID or a UIN. If both identify existing students, they must identify the same student; conflicting identifiers are rejected. You can review all changes before they are saved. Blank values clear a student's settings, while columns omitted entirely and students not listed in the CSV are left unchanged. Unknown students are saved as pending.
UINs only match students from your center's own institution. For visiting students from other institutions, use their UID.
Changes to a student's accommodations or time limit extension do not affect their existing reservations.
Students can review their current center accommodations and time limit extension in the My accommodations section of the PrairieTest Home page. PrairieTest identifies the testing center and explains that these settings apply to sessions managed by that center for all of the student's courses there. The Course staff access setting below affects course staff only; it does not control a student's ability to see their own accommodations at testing centers.
Course Staff Access
By default, staff of courses linked to your center cannot see the accommodations you assign to students. You can change this with the Course staff access setting on your center's Settings → Accommodations tab:
- View gives course staff read-only access to their own students' center accommodations and time limit extensions.
- View and edit additionally lets course editors and owners change them.
Quick Start
The two most common accommodation patterns are:
Required, shared seating (e.g., wheelchair seating or reduced distraction seating): Set seat requirement to Required and add the accommodation to the relevant seat groups with Exclusive set to No. Students with the accommodation must use seat groups that provide it, and students without it can still use those seats.
Informational only (e.g., food/drink allowed): Set seat requirement to None. The accommodation is tracked for proctors but has no effect on seat placement.
See Real-World Examples for more detailed configuration guides.
Seat Requirement and Exclusive
The accommodation system uses two independent settings that work together:
- Seat requirement (on the accommodation itself): Controls whether a student WITH this accommodation needs to be placed in a seat group that provides it
- Exclusive (on the seat group): Controls whether students WITHOUT this accommodation are excluded from seats that have it
Seat Requirement Values
Each accommodation has a seat requirement with three possible values:
| Seat Requirement | Behavior | Example |
|---|---|---|
| None | The accommodation is informational only and doesn't affect seat placement | Food/drink allowed |
| Optional | The accommodation is noted when the student is placed in a supporting seat group, but the student is not restricted to those groups | Isolated room access |
| Required | The student MUST be placed in a seat group that provides this accommodation | Wheelchair, reduced distraction |
The Exclusive Flag
On each seat group, accommodations can be marked as exclusive. This is independent of the seat requirement value:
- Exclusive = Yes: Only students who have at least one of the seat group's exclusive accommodations can be placed there. This is useful for reserving limited-capacity seat groups for students who need them.
- Exclusive = No: Any student can be placed in this seat group (subject to other constraints).
When a seat group has multiple exclusive accommodations, a student needs any one of them (not all). For example, if a seat group has exclusive accommodations "Reduced Distraction (RD)" and "Wheelchair Access (W)", a student with only RD or only W can use it, but a student with neither cannot.
Behavior Summary
| Seat Requirement | Exclusive | Behavior | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | n/a | Informational - Tracked for proctors but doesn't affect placement | Food/drink allowed |
| Optional | No | Noted - Included in reservation details when seat group provides it | Isolated room noted on reservation |
| Optional | Yes | Permission/Pass - Grants access to dedicated seat groups without restricting | Access to a dedicated room |
| Required | No | Need (shared) - Student must use providing seats, but others can too | Reduced distraction booths (shared) |
| Required | Yes | Need (exclusive) - Student must use providing seats, and only they can | Reduced distraction booths (exclusive) |
Accommodations with seat requirement None cannot be added to seat groups. Changing an accommodation's seat requirement to None will automatically remove it from all seat groups where it was previously assigned.
Configuration
Creating Accommodations
When you create an accommodation, choose a name, abbreviation, description, and seat requirement. The name, abbreviation, and description should store operational outcomes only: what PrairieTest users need to provide, reserve, permit, or enforce during an exam. Examples include extra time, seating needs, room access, and proctor-visible permissions.
Keeping these fields operational limits sensitive medical and disability information in PrairieTest. Leave out diagnoses, medical documentation, and narrative disability details when the exam workflow can be run without them; if a PrairieTest workflow truly requires additional details, include only the minimum needed for that workflow.
Adding Accommodations to a Seat Group
- Navigate to your location's Seat groups tab
- Click the edit button next to the Accommodations column for a seat group
- For each accommodation, you can:
- Check the accommodation to mark it as provided by this seat group
- Toggle the Exclusive switch to also make it exclusive
Note: Only accommodations with seat requirement Optional or Required appear in the seat group accommodation editor. Accommodations with seat requirement None are listed separately since they cannot be applied to seat groups.
In the seat groups table:
- Accommodations appear with their abbreviation (e.g., "RD" for Reduced Distraction)
- An "(e)" suffix indicates an exclusive accommodation (e.g., "RD(e)")
Real-World Examples
Option 1: Informational (Seat requirement = None)
Example: Food and Drink Allowed
- Create accommodation "Food and Drink" (FD) with seat requirement = None
- It cannot be added to any seat groups
- Result: Students with FD can be placed in any seat group. The accommodation is purely informational for proctors to know the student is allowed food and drink during the exam.
Option 2: Permission/Pass (Seat requirement = Optional, Exclusive = Yes)
Example: Access to a Dedicated Room
- Create accommodation "Dedicated Room Access" (DRA) with seat requirement = Optional
- Create a "Dedicated Room" seat group with DRA marked as exclusive: DRA(e)
- Result:
- Students WITH DRA can use the Dedicated Room OR regular rooms
- Students WITHOUT DRA cannot use the Dedicated Room
- DRA acts as a "pass" that grants access to the dedicated room
- Students with DRA are not forced into the Dedicated Room - they can use any seat group
This approach is useful when you want to control access to a dedicated room independently of other accommodations. You can grant Dedicated Room Access to any student you choose, regardless of what other accommodations they may have.
Option 3: Need, Shared (Seat requirement = Required, Exclusive = No)
Example: Reduced Distraction Booths (Shared)
- Create accommodation "Reduced Distraction" (RD) with seat requirement = Required
- Create a "Quiet Booths" seat group that provides RD (not exclusive)
- Result:
- Students WITH RD must be placed in Quiet Booths
- Students WITHOUT RD can also be placed in Quiet Booths if space is available
- Because these seats are shared, non-accommodation students can fill them up before RD students reserve. Use fill order to mitigate this by ensuring regular seats fill first. If you need a hard guarantee that seats are always available for accommodation students, use Exclusive = Yes instead (see Option 4)
Option 4: Need, Exclusive (Seat requirement = Required, Exclusive = Yes)
Example: Reduced Distraction Booths (Exclusive)
- Create accommodation "Reduced Distraction" (RD) with seat requirement = Required
- Create a "Quiet Booths" seat group with RD marked as exclusive: RD(e)
- Result:
- Students WITH RD must be placed in Quiet Booths
- Students WITHOUT RD cannot be placed in Quiet Booths
- The booths are exclusive to students who need reduced distractions
Dedicated Room Configurations
A common need is to create a dedicated room where only certain students are allowed. There are two main approaches to achieve this.
Approach 1: Using Existing Accommodations
Use your existing accommodations (like Reduced Distraction or Wheelchair) and mark them as exclusive only within the dedicated room's seat group. This lets the same accommodation be shared in other seat groups but exclusive in the dedicated room.
Setup:
| Seat Group | Accommodations | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | (none) | Standard seating for all students |
| Quiet Area | RD | Reduced distraction seating, open to all |
| Accessible | W | Wheelchair seating, open to all |
| Dedicated Room | RD(e), W(e) | Exclusive to RD or W students, provides both |
How it works:
- Non-accommodation students can use Regular, Quiet Area, or Accessible seats
- Non-accommodation students cannot use the Dedicated Room
- Students with Reduced Distraction (RD) must use Quiet Area or Dedicated Room
- Students with Wheelchair (W) must use Accessible or Dedicated Room
- Students with both RD and W must use the Dedicated Room (the only seat group providing both)
Variation - More restrictive access:
If you want the Dedicated Room to require Reduced Distraction specifically (not just Wheelchair), mark only RD as exclusive:
| Seat Group | Accommodations | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated Room | RD(e), W | Exclusive to RD students, also provides W |
Now:
- A student with only W must use Accessible (they don't have RD, so can't access Dedicated Room)
- A student with only RD can use Quiet Area or Dedicated Room
- A student with RD can access the Dedicated Room (and gets W support if needed)
Approach 2: Dedicated Room Access Accommodation
Create a dedicated accommodation specifically for room access. This gives you complete control over who can access the room, independent of their other accommodations.
Setup:
- Create accommodation "Dedicated Room Access" (DRA) with seat requirement = Optional
- Create seat groups:
| Seat Group | Accommodations | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | (none) | Standard seating for all students |
| Quiet Area | RD | Reduced distraction seating, open to all |
| Accessible | W | Wheelchair seating, open to all |
| Dedicated Room | DRA(e), RD, W | Exclusive to DRA students, provides RD and W |
How it works:
- Grant the "Dedicated Room Access" accommodation to any student you want to have access
- Students with only DRA can use Regular, Quiet Area, Accessible, or Dedicated Room
- Students without DRA cannot use Dedicated Room, regardless of their other accommodations
- Students with RD (but not DRA) must use Quiet Area
- Students with W (but not DRA) must use Accessible
- Students with DRA + RD must use Quiet Area or Dedicated Room
- Students with DRA + W must use Accessible or Dedicated Room
- The Dedicated Room provides RD and W, so students who need those accommodations get them there
When to use this approach:
- When you want explicit control over who accesses the dedicated room
- When access shouldn't be automatically granted based on other accommodations
- When you have a limited-capacity room and need to carefully manage who can use it
Mixed Exclusive and Non-Exclusive Seats
You can split accommodations between exclusive and non-exclusive seat groups within the same testing room. This reserves some seats for students who need them while allowing overflow into shared seating.
Example: Reduced Distraction with Exclusive and Shared Seating
| Seat Group | Capacity | Accommodations | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | 50 | (none) | Standard seating |
| Quiet Booths (Exclusive) | 4 | RD(e) | Exclusive for RD students only |
| Quiet Booths (Shared) | 4 | RD | Provides RD, open to all students |
How it works:
- RD students can be placed in either the Exclusive or Shared booths
- Non-RD students can be placed in Shared booths but never in Exclusive booths
- This ensures RD students always have at least 4 guaranteed seats, with 4 more available as overflow
See the Fill Order section below for how to configure which seat groups fill first.
Fill Order Interaction
Seat groups have a fill order that determines which groups fill first. The system places students in the lowest-numbered seat group that matches their accommodation needs and has available capacity.
Available capacity depends on the seat group's session capacity, existing reservations, and any exam seat allowance for that seat group.
Understanding fill order is important for getting the best use of your seating capacity. There are two key scenarios to consider.
Scenario 1: Regular Seats and Shared Accommodation Seats
When you have regular seats alongside shared accommodation seats (like reduced distraction booths that any student can use), it's critical that regular seats fill first.
| Fill Order | Seat Group | Accommodations | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regular | (none) | Standard seating |
| 2 | Quiet Booths (Shared) | RD | Provides RD, open to all students |
Why this order matters:
- Non-accommodation students fill Regular seats first (fill order 1)
- RD students can only use Quiet Booths, so they go there regardless of fill order
- If Regular seats fill up, non-accommodation students overflow into Quiet Booths
- This preserves Quiet Booths capacity for RD students as long as possible
What happens with the wrong order:
If Quiet Booths had fill order 1 instead, non-accommodation students would fill those seats first before using Regular seats. This could leave no accommodation seats available for RD students who actually need them.
Scenario 2: Exclusive and Shared Accommodation Seats
When you have both exclusive and shared seats for the same accommodation, you have a choice about which fills first. Both orders are valid but achieve different goals.
| Fill Order | Seat Group | Accommodations | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regular | (none) | Standard seating |
| ? | Quiet Booths (Exclusive) | RD(e) | Exclusive for RD students only |
| ? | Quiet Booths (Shared) | RD | Provides RD, open to all students |
Regular seats should always fill first. The question is whether Exclusive or Shared booths should come next.
Option A: Shared fills before Exclusive (best for accommodation students)
| Fill Order | Seat Group |
|---|---|
| 1 | Regular |
| 2 | Quiet Booths (Shared) |
| 3 | Quiet Booths (Exclusive) |
- Non-accommodation students fill Regular seats first
- RD students fill Shared booths first
- Exclusive booths remain as a guaranteed reserve for RD students
- Even if all Regular and Shared seats fill up, RD students still have the Exclusive booths available
- This maximizes protection for accommodation students
Option B: Exclusive fills before Shared (best for non-accommodation students)
| Fill Order | Seat Group |
|---|---|
| 1 | Regular |
| 2 | Quiet Booths (Exclusive) |
| 3 | Quiet Booths (Shared) |
- Non-accommodation students fill Regular seats first
- RD students fill Exclusive booths first
- Once Exclusive booths are full, RD students use Shared booths
- Non-accommodation students can overflow into Shared booths if Regular seats fill up
- RD students get first access to their seats, but then compete with everyone else for Shared booths
- This maximizes overall seating flexibility
Seat Allowance and Seat Groups
Exam seat allowance applies separately to each seat group in a session. For each seat group, PrairieTest computes the exam's allowance as:
ceil(seat group session capacity * exam seat allowance percentage / 100)
Example: Shared Reduced Distraction Seats
Use this policy when you want to maximize use of all seats and are willing to let non-accommodation students use reduced-distraction seats when regular seats are no longer available for that exam.
| Fill Order | Seat Group | Capacity | Accommodations | Exclusive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Standard | 20 | (none) | No |
| 2 | Reduced Distraction | 5 | RD | No |
If an exam has an 80% seat allowance:
- Standard allows this exam to use
ceil(20 * 0.80) = 16seats - Reduced Distraction allows this exam to use
ceil(5 * 0.80) = 4seats - Students without RD fill Standard first because it has fill order 1
- Once this exam has 16 Standard reservations, students without RD may spill into the 4 allowed Reduced Distraction seats
This maximizes utilization, but it does not guarantee that Reduced Distraction seats will remain available for students with RD.
Example: Exclusive Reduced Distraction Seats
Use this policy when you want to hold Reduced Distraction seats for students with RD, even if that means some seats may remain unused when RD demand is low.
| Fill Order | Seat Group | Capacity | Accommodations | Exclusive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Standard | 20 | (none) | No |
| 2 | Reduced Distraction | 5 | RD | Yes |
If an exam has an 80% seat allowance:
- Standard allows this exam to use
ceil(20 * 0.80) = 16seats - Reduced Distraction allows this exam to use
ceil(5 * 0.80) = 4seats - Students without RD can use only the allowed Standard seats
- Students with RD can use the allowed Reduced Distraction seats
This protects Reduced Distraction seats for students who need them. The tradeoff is that non-RD students may see the session as unavailable for this exam even while exclusive Reduced Distraction seats are physically empty.
Student Perspective
Students do not see seat group names, accommodation details, or the exclusive/required settings when making reservations. The reservation page shows only:
- Available sessions with date, location, time limit, and capacity
- Their own effective accommodations for each session option — this is the list of accommodations that would apply if they reserved that session
- A capacity bar showing available seats (summed across all seat groups the student is eligible for)
A student with no accommodations sees no accommodation information at all. A student with accommodations sees only the accommodations that would be effective for their reservation (based on the rules described above), not which seat group provides them. For optional accommodations, the student sees the accommodation listed only when the seat group they would be placed in provides it — otherwise it is silently omitted with no warning.
Sessions where a student's required accommodations cannot be met are shown as unavailable with a message, but the specific missing accommodation is not named. The seat group assignment is entirely invisible to the student — they choose a session, and the system automatically places them in the best matching seat group.
Staff Override
When center staff manually creates a reservation:
- If the student has a required accommodation that the selected seat group does not provide, a warning "Accommodations cannot be met." is displayed
- If the selected seat group has exclusive accommodations and the student does not have any of them, a warning "Seat group is exclusive." is displayed
- Staff can still use the "Custom reservation" option to manually select any seat group and override these restrictions
This allows flexibility for edge cases while maintaining proper automatic placement.
Usage Predictions
Accommodations do not affect usage predictions. The system does not use student accommodation information when predicting session capacity usage, so predicted usage assumes that any student can be placed in any seat group.
Note: Seat groups with exclusive accommodations may show higher predicted usage than will actually occur, since only students with those accommodations can be placed there. Conversely, if you have many exclusive seats, predictions may be optimistic - you could run out of capacity for non-accommodation students even when predictions suggest adequate space, because those students cannot use the exclusive seats.