A student's spelling is very poor even in a subject where I don't think it should matter — should I still correct it?
You can note it briefly, but avoid letting it affect the mark unless accurate spelling is genuinely part of the assessed learning outcome. Separating content feedback from spelling feedback is good practice for every student, not just those with dyslexia.
Is it fair to give one student extra time when others don't get it?
Yes — extra time addresses a specific processing-speed difference so that a timed assessment measures subject knowledge rather than reading and writing speed. It levels an otherwise unequal starting point rather than creating an advantage.
What if a student seems to manage fine most of the time?
Many students with dyslexia develop effective compensation strategies that work under normal conditions but can break down under time pressure or in an unfamiliar task format. Managing well most of the time does not mean support is unnecessary.
A Second Illustrative Scenario
In Practice — A sudden switch to a new document format
A student with dyslexia (a composite, illustrative example) who had been using text-to-speech software successfully all term struggled significantly when a guest lecturer distributed handouts as scanned images rather than the department's usual accessible format.
What helped: the module leader asked the guest lecturer for the original source file and reformatted it into an accessible document before the next session, and added a standing note to the guest-lecturer briefing pack about accessible document formats.
The lesson: accessibility gaps often appear at the edges of standard practice — guest speakers, one-off sessions, last-minute substitutions — rather than in the core, well-established parts of a course. A single briefing-pack addition prevented the same gap recurring with future guest lecturers.