Scribe, reader or extra time in the board exam: a practice plan from class 9

An exam arrangement changes how a child works. With a scribe, they must hold an answer in their head, say it in order and remember what they have already said. With a reader, they must ask an unfamiliar adult to read a question again. With extra time, they must pace a paper longer than any they have sat. None of this can be learnt in the week of the exam.

Some boards say so directly. Cambridge's handbook says arrangements for long-term needs 'should reflect their normal way of working', and the IB expects them to be practised in class tests and mocks. We could not find a CBSE rule requiring schools to use the same arrangements in unit tests and pre-boards, so ask the school early. CBSE concessions for learning disabilities explains the CBSE claim and its 2027 dates.

Families often hear that a scribe must be one class junior. That is close to one board's rule, not every board's, and it matters when you decide whether to find your own scribe or accept the centre's. The table gives each board's rule as its own documents state it.

On CBSE the scribe is free to the candidate, with one scribe per subject. CISCE allows a writer only when 'any reasonable allowance of extra time would not meet the difficulty'. Cambridge and the IB work from evidence of need; IGCSE and IB access arrangements explains what they ask for.

A scribe writes what the candidate dictates; the answer, the words and the choices are the candidate's. Practise as though the scribe will add nothing: no corrected fact, no better word, no finished sentence. A child used to a parent tidying their answers at home needs to learn that this will not happen in the exam.

A reader reads the question paper aloud. CISCE's guidelines put the limit plainly: the paper may be read aloud but not explained. On CBSE, a candidate who opts for a reader only cannot also have a scribe. On Cambridge, human readers are not allowed in language papers or syllabuses that test reading, so a child may still face some papers alone.

An adult prompter is for a child who loses track of the paper. CISCE describes a student who 'faces significant challenges in concentrating', and CBSE marks a prompter as available for learning disabilities and autism. Ask the school what the scribe, reader and prompter at your child's centre may do, and make practice match the answer.

Dictation separates thinking from writing for a child who has always had to do both at once. Start in the first term of class 9 with short answers in a subject the child likes, dictated to an adult who writes exactly what is said, then read it back. Most children are surprised by what they actually said, and that surprise is where the learning starts.

• Plan aloud first: name the three points the answer will make, then dictate it.
• Dictate punctuation and layout: 'full stop', 'new paragraph', 'underline the heading'.
• Spell technical words and names letter by letter. In Cambridge language exams, a candidate with a scribe either gives up the spelling marks or dictates spellings this way.
• Say where a diagram or map goes, and ask the school how diagrams are handled when a scribe is writing.
• Ask for the last sentence to be read back, and dictate a correction rather than starting again.
• Keep a steady pace: long silences cost as much time as slow handwriting did.

Keep the dictated answers and compare them over the months. Answers that grow longer and better organised show the skill is coming. One line and a stop means more planning practice first.

On CBSE, CISCE and NIOS the allowance is 20 minutes an hour: an extra hour on a three-hour paper. A child who has only sat papers in the standard time does not know what to do with it. Some stop at the usual time; others spend it all on the first long answer.

Plan the time as part of the paper. Work out with the teacher how many minutes each section deserves at the child's pace, extra time included, and have the child jot a timing plan at the start of every practice paper, with a few minutes to choose questions and ten at the end to check. Practise single sections with the full extended time in class 9 and full papers in class 10. Three hours become four, so build stamina with a full-length paper once a fortnight, then weekly in the final months.

Many teenagers would rather guess at a question than ask an adult to read it again, and the habit forms long before the exam. Practise the words: 'Please read question four again.' 'Please read the second part slowly.' A child who has said them many times in practice will say them in the exam room. Confirm with the school that the reader may repeat a question when asked.

Use several readers in practice, not only a parent, and ask each to read without emphasis or explanation, as in the exam. Decide with the teacher whether a reader, a scribe or extra time alone suits the child, remembering the CBSE rule that a reader-only candidate cannot also have a scribe.

A prompter works best when the child knows in advance what a prompt will look like. Agree a signal in practice, and ask the school what the prompter at the centre will do. For autistic candidates, CISCE's guidelines say the reader, writer or prompter should be familiar to them, or that they should have time to get to know the person first.

The plan assumes board exams in class 10 and a school year that starts in April or June. Start earlier if your child needs more time, never later.

1. Class 9, first term: find out which arrangements the school will apply for, and practise dictation and reading with short answers twice a week.
2. Class 9, second term: use the arrangements in school tests where the school allows, and practise single sections with the full extra time.
3. Class 10, first term: full papers once a fortnight, with a scribe or reader who is not a parent. Check that the school's claim to the board has gone in on time.
4. Class 10, pre-boards: real conditions, with a separate room, full extra time, an unfamiliar scribe or reader and any approved aids. Review timing and dictation, not only marks.
5. Class 10, the last month: check the admit card lists the arrangements, and meet the scribe. CBSE allows this two days before the exam, NIOS a day before.
6. Exam days: the same routine, breakfast and prompter signal as in the mocks. Nothing new.

Mocks in real conditions are the step families most often skip. Ask the school for a separate room and a teacher or senior student as scribe or reader in the pre-boards. CISCE's guidelines let autistic candidates see the room and their seat a day or a few days before; ask whether your child's centre allows something similar.

Entrance and recruitment exams do not follow the school boards' rules. They follow central guidelines from DEPwD, the Government of India department for disability affairs, applied through each exam's information bulletin. At the time of writing (September 2026), two sets are in force: the 2018 guidelines for persons with benchmark disabilities (F.No.34-02/2015-DD-III, 29 August 2018), and the 2022 guidelines for a specified disability below 40% with difficulty in writing (F.No.29-6/2019-DD-III, 10 August 2022).

• 2018: a candidate's own scribe must be 'one step below' the candidate's qualification, and the candidate may meet the scribe two days before.
• 2018: compensatory time of at least 20 minutes an hour with a scribe; a benchmark candidate without a scribe gets at least one hour on a three-hour exam.
• 2022: a scribe or compensatory time goes 'solely to those having difficulty in writing', certified by a multi-member medical authority chaired by the CMO, Civil Surgeon or Chief District Medical Officer.
• 2022: that certificate is valid for a 'maximum period of six months or less', so plan it close to the exam.

Revised guidelines dated 1 August 2025 (F.No.P-13013/75/2023-Policy-DD-III) would change several of these rules, including how scribes are chosen, but they are on hold. An office memorandum dated 1 July 2026 keeps competitive exams on the 2018 and 2022 guidelines 'up to 31.12.2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier'. The 2025 guidelines also exclude school board exams.

NTA's NEET (UG) 2026 bulletin, for example, applied the 2018 and 2022 guidelines, and an NTA notice of 20 June 2026 said compensatory time would be given only where the admit card showed it. Read the bulletin for your child's exam.

Practice works best with one person in charge, usually the remedial teacher or special educator who knows how the child reads, writes and tires. In class 9 they build the skills in small pieces inside ordinary sessions: two dictated answers, a timed section, a question read aloud. In class 10 they run full papers in exam conditions, bring in a colleague the child does not know as scribe or reader, and record timing and accuracy. They tell the school's coordinator which arrangements are being practised, and say in monthly notes what has improved.

Special Minds introduces remedial teachers and special educators for board exam support at home in eight cities, with remedial tutoring online anywhere in India, and verifies their training and speaks to their references before a family sees a file. What remedial teaching is explains the structured teaching that runs underneath the exam practice.