Assessment-facing inclusion: disabled students, mandatory exit examinations and unequal test-preparation opportunities in Colombian university education

Inclusive education research has challenged enrolment as a sufficient measure of inclusion, yet less attention has been paid to mandatory external examinations that students must sit near degree completion. This article introduces assessment-facing inclusion to analyse the conditions under which disabled students approach consequential examination requirements associated with credential completion. The study focuses on Colombia's Saber Pro, a national, external and standardised examination that students in undergraduate programmes must sit as a graduation requirement and that forms part of the country's quality-assurance architecture. Using DataICFES microdata for 2016–2020 and 2022–2024, the article constructs a dataset of 6,132 students whose registration records indicate disability and examines reported observable test-preparation tutoring as an indicator of organised preparation for Saber Pro. The findings show that 553 students, or 9.02%, report such tutoring. Descriptive contrasts and exploratory models indicate that reported preparation is patterned especially by programme modality, own tuition payment, institutional sector, parental higher education and work status. Own tuition payment and non-presential programme modality are the most consistent negative correlates. The article contributes to inclusive higher education research by extending inclusion analysis to the conditions under which disabled students approach mandatory external examinations near credential completion.