Accessibility Statement
This statement covers two different things: how usable this website is, and how accessible our teaching and our examination centre are. Both matter, and neither is the same as exam access arrangements, those are covered on a separate page.
At a glance
- Target: WCAG 2.2 level AA
- No independent audit yet
- Barriers answered within 5 working days
- Last updated 15 August 2026
We are aiming at WCAG 2.2 level AA and we are not claiming to have reached it. This page sets out what has been built in deliberately, what has not been tested, and how to tell us when something gets in your way.
What This Statement Covers
This document has not yet been reviewed by a solicitor and is a working draft: London Maths & Science College should have it checked by a qualified adviser before the site goes live.
It applies to this website and to the way we deliver teaching and examinations. London Maths & Science College Ltd is a private provider, so the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 do not apply to us. We have adopted the same standard voluntarily, because the standard is the sensible one whether or not it is compulsory.
What does apply to us is the Equality Act 2010. As a service provider we must not discriminate against disabled people, and section 29 of the Act carries a duty to make reasonable adjustments. That duty is anticipatory: it is not enough to react when somebody asks. It is one of the reasons this page exists in a form that admits what has not been checked.
The technical target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 at level AA, published by the W3C as a Recommendation on 12 December 2024.
What Has Been Built in
These are decisions taken while building the site, and they can be checked in the page markup by anybody who wants to.
- Pages are written in semantic HTML: real headings in order, real lists, real tables with row and column headers, and landmark regions for the header, the main content and the footer.
- Every page has one main heading, and headings descend in order without skipping levels.
- A skip-to-content link is the first thing in the tab order on every page.
- The page language is declared as English, so a screen reader pronounces the content correctly.
- Navigation works from the keyboard alone, and the menu button reports its own expanded or collapsed state to assistive technology.
- A visible focus indicator is applied to every focusable element, using a thick outline offset from the element rather than a faint colour change.
- The layout is responsive and reflows on small screens without a horizontal scrollbar; text is set in relative units so that browser zoom and text resizing work.
- There is no auto-playing audio or video, no carousel, no content that moves or flashes, and no time limit on anything.
- Frequently asked questions use the browser’s own expand and collapse element rather than a custom widget, so they behave predictably with assistive technology.
- Links are written to make sense out of context, the link text says where it goes, rather than "click here" or "read more" on its own.
- The current page in the main navigation is marked programmatically, not only by colour.
What We Know We Have Not Verified
Listing these is the point of the statement. If one of them is what stops you using the site, tell us and it moves to the top of the list.
- Colour contrast has not been measured across every combination of text, background, link, button and focus indicator, in every state. We believe most combinations pass at AA; we have not proved it.
- The site has not been tested end to end with a screen reader, or with speech recognition software, or with a screen magnifier.
- Reflow at 400 per cent zoom, and text spacing overrides, have not been checked page by page.
- The header is sticky, so it is possible that a focused element could be partly hidden behind it when tabbing down a long page, WCAG 2.2 criterion 2.4.11. This has not been tested.
- Target sizes for small controls such as the menu button and the expand and collapse arrows have not been measured against the 24 by 24 pixel minimum in WCAG 2.2.
- Forms, enquiry, booking and enrolment, are still being built. Label association, error identification, error suggestion and accessible authentication have not been assessed.
- Documents we may publish later, such as a fee schedule or an enrolment pack as a PDF, have not been checked for accessibility. Where we publish a document, we intend to publish the same content as an ordinary web page as well.
- We have not tested with users who have cognitive or learning disabilities, which is a gap that automated tools do not fill.
Accessibility of Teaching and Examinations
A website is the easy part. The service matters more.
On the teaching side, we can provide materials in a different format on request, larger print, a plain digital file that works with your own software, or a version without the visual layout. We can talk about seating, lighting and where in the room you sit. We can record what a session covered when attendance is disrupted by a condition or a treatment. Ask before term starts if you can, because a change arranged in advance is easier than one arranged in the middle of a lesson.
On the examination side, the physical conditions of the room, the desk, the lighting and the route to it are our responsibility as a centre. If you need something to be able to sit the paper at all, a ground-floor room, a particular chair, access to medication, a route that avoids stairs, tell us at the point of enquiry rather than in June.
We cannot yet publish confirmed information about step-free access, lifts, accessible toilets or the nearest station, because those details are not finalised. Rather than describe a building in terms we have not verified, we will tell you exactly what the premises provide when you ask. If the building cannot meet a need, we will say so plainly instead of letting you find out on the day.
Step by step
Reporting a Barrier
Tell Us What Happened
Write to us through our contact page. The most useful message says what you were trying to do, what got in the way, and what you were using at the time, the browser, the device, and any assistive technology. If none of that is to hand, tell us anyway; a vague report we can chase is better than a precise one you never send.
We Acknowledge Within 5 Working Days
We confirm we have received it and tell you who is looking at it. If the barrier is stopping you doing something time-critical, such as making an enquiry or an entry, we will offer another way to do it immediately rather than waiting for a fix.
We Respond Within 20 Working Days
With either a fix, a date for a fix, or an explanation of why we cannot do it and what we will do instead. We will not close a report by telling you it works for other people.
If You Are Not Satisfied
Use the complaints procedure. An accessibility barrier that we have failed to deal with is a complaint like any other, and it goes through the same stages with the same timescales.
Beyond Us
The Equality Act 2010 gives you rights against a service provider that fails to make reasonable adjustments. Free, independent advice on those rights is available from Citizens Advice, and you may take a claim to court.
What Happens Next with This Page
Three things are outstanding, and we would rather name them than let this page imply they are done.
First, a full self-assessment against WCAG 2.2 AA, criterion by criterion, with the failures written down. Second, testing with a screen reader and with keyboard-only navigation on every page template rather than on a sample. Third, an accessibility assessment of the enquiry, booking and enrolment forms before they go live, because a form nobody can complete is a worse barrier than a page nobody can read.
When each of those is done, this statement will be rewritten to say what was found. A statement that only ever gets more confident is not a statement, it is marketing.
Questions
Accessibility Questions
Because we have not tested it thoroughly enough to know. A conformance claim is a statement of fact about every page and every success criterion, and making one we could not support would be worth less than nothing to the people who rely on it.
We have said what we built in and what we have not checked. When an audit is done, this page will say what it found.
Tell us through our contact page, with as much detail as you can manage about what you were doing and what you were using. We acknowledge within 5 working days and respond within 20.
If the barrier is blocking something urgent, say so. We will give you another route to do it, by writing, or with a member of staff completing the step with you, while we sort out the underlying problem.
We are not able to confirm the physical access details of the premises on this page yet, and we will not describe a building we have not verified.
Ask us before you enrol and we will tell you exactly what the premises provide, including the route in, the floor your teaching room would be on and what facilities exist. If it will not work for you, we will say so.
No. Extra time is an access arrangement, granted by an awarding body on evidence under JCQ regulations. It is explained on the access arrangements page and it has its own deadlines and its own evidence requirements.
This statement is about the website, the building, and how teaching and materials are delivered. Different rules, different process, and usually both are needed.
Yes. Larger print, a plain digital file that works with your own reading software, or a version stripped of visual layout. Ask at enrolment where you can, so that materials are ready from the first session rather than the third.
No. An adjustment to how we teach, what format materials come in or where you sit is a conversation, not an application, and we do not ask for a diagnosis to have it.
Evidence is a different matter for an exam access arrangement, where JCQ regulations require it. That is the one place where the paperwork is not ours to waive.
Whenever the site changes materially, and whenever a barrier reported to us reveals something this page does not mention. It was last updated on 15 August 2026.
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