Inclusive Time in Assessment: A Universal Design for Learning Perspective

The provision of extra time in assessment and formal examinations has long been administered as an individualised accommodation in higher education, a reactive measure granted only to students who can demonstrate the presence of a recognised disability or learning difference. While well-intentioned, this model is increasingly challenged by scholars and practitioners working within the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, who argue that the gatekeeping structure of accommodations is a source of inequity and is not inclusive. UDL contends that learning environments should be proactively structured to reduce barriers and support the widest possible range of learners from the outset, rather than retrofitting adjustments. Based on empirical evidence of staff and student perceptions of additional time, a term we coin "inclusive time", we reveal the discourses that both enable and constrain the potential implementation of inclusive time and UDL principles for assessment more broadly.