Can the Engagement Model act as a replacement for the P-scale assessment system? Issues in monitoring the progress of students with autism and severe learning difficulties TEREZA AIDONOPOULOU-READ The Engagement Model was launched in January 2020, endeavouring to address the weaknesses of the P-scales assessment for students not yet involved in a subject-specific curriculum. This paper will discuss how and if the tensions between previously adopted assessment systems as discussed in teacher

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... rviews can be reconciled through the Engagement Model in relation to students with autism and severe learning difficulties. The interview findings suggested that some of the problems with assessment, when applied in this context, are related to consistency and transferability, lack of formal recognition of non-academic progress, familiarity with the students, observation skills and training, workload and time, and subjectivity of judgement amongst professionals. When compared with the aims of the Engagement Model, the findings of the research suggest that even though it addresses some of the issues raised, it cannot act as a substitute to the P-scale system as it serves a different purpose. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2021 NASEN Support for Learning • Volume 36 • Number 2 • 2021 259