AIBU to ask current or former GCSE examiners what happens with illegible handwriting?

They award a MbCHB !

And don't get me started on the number of 18 year olds arriving at university with undiagnosed dyslexia. All they needed was someone to notice, a quick referral to student support services who assessed their particular difficulty and orovided focused support incl specialised software. These students were more often than not high achievers consequent to this. They needed to have worked extra hard to get to.university in the first place

Back in the day there was a rubric on all GCSE/O and A level papers, apart from MFL's perhaps:

'Credit will be given for the use of good English and the orderly presentation of materials. Candidates who neglect these essentials will be penalised.'

I have had to fail 1st year university students whose writing is illegible. They get a second chance but unfortunately a 1st mark for a summative written piece in my university, that is illeginle is 0%, obviously. On their 2nd attempt, if they pass, they are told their grade but it is capped at 40%, minimum pass rate. They soon up their game for subsequent coursework...come on teachers!

Just returning to add that I have started this season of marking. On our training this scenario was specifically mentioned during the training conference. The message was ‘please don’t escalate a script because you can’t read it, if you can’t read it then your team leader won’t be able to either’ We were told to use our judgement and if it was completely illegible and you couldn’t award marks then so be it. So there are definitely not people paid to decipher illegible handwriting as some may have suggested. The message is kids should be writing as neatly as they can and that any major issues should have been flagged by the school and access arrangements put in place.

I'm going back many years now early 1980s,but a girl in my class who was highly intelligent and consistently achieved top grades in most subjects,had absolutely awful handwriting. I clearly remember her dismay on O level results day when she learned she'd got an 'U' (ungraded) for her English language exam. My guess was that the person marking her paper just couldn't decipher it.

Or a solicitor. I was a nurse and now work with solicitors and they both have dreadful writing!

Experienced senior examiner here. It's a problem. Exams may well, in the not too distant future, by typed. It is a permissible option under certain conditions. Actually, your ds's writing isn't too bad. I can read it. It isn't easy, but it's decipherable. We do become very, very good at reading truly dreadful writing.

That handwriting is not illegible, speaking as an Examiner.

I don't mark School level exams, but know enough about the system to say that the school should have flagged any major concerns and made reasonable adjustments well before the exams started. So, either, they don't have any as they can read his work, or they have been very remiss in their duties. I don't know how exam boards work, but at University level (in my University) I have had two occasions where I could not read enough of the script - perhaps only about a third - to feel confident in awarding a fair mark. On those occasions, the student came in and dictated the script in a room with an invigilator who recorded it. It was then transcribed and compared to the original and I then marked the transcribed version. From memory, I think they also had to verbally add in the punctuation and paragraph breaks as well. Would also agree with all the advice about writing on the lines and getting a finer nibbed pen btw.

I am an Examiner of long standing and a teacher for many years.. The advantage iof scripts being marked on line is that the examiner can use the zoom facility, which can help. Another thing I did with my rather illegible pupils was to tell them to write on every other line: that can make it easier to read.Very, very occasionally, if the writing is completely illegible, it is only marked on what can be read.Every effort is made. If the handwriting is so bad, I am surprised the school has not done something about it. Sometimes typing is allowed, or scribing, and certainly extra time, if the handwriting is due to something like dyspraxia, and if spelling is very poor it may be dyslexia as well
,but a proper assessment is needed and it is expensive, but worth it.Alternatively,there are sets of handwriting books which do help, if worked through, though a bit late now.

It's pretty essential, because it's much quicker than printing.

Also, oddly, it helps with spelling; your hand just naturally gets the feel of various homophones. The best thing my son's dyslexia tutor did for him was to take his handwriting apart and get him writing in a beautiful cursive style, and his spelling was certainly improved by it. He ended up with nicer handwriting than his non-dyslexic siblings.

I agree.

Most people’s handwriting is neater and easier to read than when not writing in cursive.

Coming to this a bit late @Hadsuchahardday and while I am an examiner, it’s for spoken not written exams, so I cannot help there.

But – you say in your OP that your DS's writing is "truly illegible" – and yet more than once you say no teacher has flagged an issue and you have asked multiple times.

So is it actually illegible? Who says so? If teachers have been able to read it for his mocks, then it will not be an issue. As an aside, the photo you shared, even out of context and out of focus, is more than readable.

I had a student once in year 10 (which is when this issue needs to be looked for GCSE at the latest tbh) of whom the whole rest of the class said "he'll need a laptop miss, his writing is unreadable." It wasn't tho. It was neither neat nor pretty but I could easily read it so it was fine. Actually your DS's writing is quite neat and as I say, clearly readable. Others' comments about context and the repeated points made in many essays are also valid.

As a former examiner for three different exam boards I can confirm that the paper will get looked over and over until they work out what he’s written. Though those marking are generally quite good at working out what has been written. If the grade doesn’t reflect his achievement at school you can definitely request a re-mark, though the mark (and grade) can go down as well as up.

If I can't read something I pass it on to the chief examiner. I believe they then make a decision and if illegible it is not marked and flagged with the school as an issue.
In 25 years of marking I have flagged three scripts.

Sometimes examiners will mark the whole script. Im an examiner. We generally do not refer up a script that is illegible and I cant remember the last time I did that. We mark what we can read. Handwriting gets worse under pressure so advise him to plan first.

Don’t worry - he has a glittering career ahead of him as a GP… 😀

School should’ve picked up on this if it’s really bad.
i always thought the same re DS’s writing but he’s done well academically so it’s obviously not that bad!

I’m a SENDCO and a senior examiner. I can read that. The clip isn’t sharp and it’s just random words not a full sentence so it hard to decode in this context.

He should have been referred at the start of year 10 if his writing was illegible. I’d be a high attainer? He looks like he is trying to write two lines in one squeeze more words in and his and is fluent and fluid.

at the exam board, we no longer escalate scripts for poor hand writing. I read it multiple times and if I can’t decode it I don’t mark it. I haven’t had a completey illegible script. And mark what I can decode.

what did teachers say during his mocks?

As an exams officer usually the teachers would flag this with the SENCO & he would then be tested. He wouldn’t be offered a scribe just for bad handwriting, he would be offered a word processor. A WP is a centre approved adjustment and doesn’t have to be applied for through the JCQ, so there is nothing stopping your son having one now for the rest of his exams. If you feel he needs one ask the SENCO or exams officer. We have had students break there arm on a weekend and then come in on a Monday and we have given them a laptop for the remainder of their exams.

I used to be asked to transcribe texts which were then submitted to the examiner with the original. I think nowadays a laptop would be a better solution. I would also suggest to your son that he tries to makr small changes e,g, not joining some letters to improve legibility. Whilst itis hard to change established handwriting, small changes are easier and can make a lot of difference to legibility.

My mum marks English GCSE.

If they can't read it then it gets flagged for a second person to take a look. If they second person can't read it then it is marked as incorrect.

His writing isn't too bad. As a teacher I probably would have flagged this up in Y10 as a candidate for using a word processor. I teach physics and encourage those with terrible writing to type their answers to prevent losing marks for bad handwriting.

No teacher has ever said they can’t read his writing

Then you're probably worrying unnecessarily.

You’re not going to get any of these if there is no identified underlying reason for the poor handwriting. Poor handwriting on its own has no allowances made for it. As an exams officer I’ve had students turn up at uni expecting to continue with the same allowances as they had been given at school, but my hands were tied and they were told they needed to focus on writing more clearly. Some university exams may be typed but there is a move back to handwritten in person exams to reduce opportunities to cheat. Any illegible scripts were returned to me by the university and the student was called in to dictate and have the papers transcribed. An inconvenience to them when their mates are off celebrating the end of exams. This obviously can’t happen with GCSEs.

I used to be an examiner at GCSE and A level. Everybody wants those good results: the student, the parents, the school for their OFSTED rating, and the exam board too because schools will choose the exam board they will do best with.
The candidate gets the benefit of the doubt and every effort will be made to give him credit where possible. If there are serious problems with deciphering manuscript the paper will be passed up the line.