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

Just to add this was the same for a levels (attached sixth form) as well as any other qualifications I did in the time afterwards including Uni. Mine really is that bad.

I have illegible handwriting when writing at speed and was given a laptop for all exams (including maths).

I was referred to my schools senco who had to asses my writing speed Vs legibility (TBF I think my English teacher got bored of trying to read my essays). I also had a laptop available to me for all lessons for this purpose. I loved it, made taking notes miles easier. I was a straight A student (event for German) so think my other teachers just suffered through before then, though I would go back in hand written exams and ask for spare paper to rewrite paragraph or key words that I'd decided were too messy.

You def need to pursue it yourself and ask for them to trial him with a keyboard, see if he gets higher marks in assessments when they are typed.

The school has to build up a portfolio of evidence for him to be able to use a keyboard for exams.

But you need to push the school over it for sure

DS has dysgraphia and gets 25% extra time and uses a laptop. This his “normal way of working”. He always uses a laptop and has to change colour at the start of extra time for all exams and tests to prove that is his normal way of working. He’s in year 9.

No they don't. Markers get their allocation and are expected to get on with it, there aren't
specialists for crap handwriting 🤣

I've been marking for over 20 years.

Or using a scribe?

Is typing not his NWOW?

School should have done an assessment on him. My sons writing is mostly illegible and typing is slow and tedious (he has dyslexia and the letters on the laptop move around) he also is ASD & ADHD. My son was assessed and got a scribe for exams along with extra time. He is also very bright and passed all his exams except french which he was down for a 2 (achieved 2) with 5-7s. Unfortunately it is too late to be doing it now but can be put in place next time he does exams in advance. My son has a form 8 with all the information for college, so college could get the same help for his college exams without reassessing.

I think it's a bit late now for your ds but my son has dyspraxia and at the very start of senior school he has been learning to touch type, it's already agreed all in school and external exams he will type, because it'll be the norm within normal lessons and school testing, the exam boards will be OK with him typing. Why on earth haven't the school got on top of this. I can't believe it's just coming up now.. how have they marked his work in the past!? I'd speak to them ASAP (senco) and see what can be done

Changed days..we were told if the writing wasn’t legible, only what was legible would get marks. No examiner wasted time on papers they couldn’t read since writing is a basic skill. We didn’t have computers back then.

He should be typing. You don't need SEND to be eligible for that exam concession. I'm surprised his teachers didn't suggest it as it is very straightforward to sort out. If he does any A levels that require longer written responses speak to the SENCo about him having a device in exams.

Part of my last job involved reading medical and nursing records, some of which were very badly written, however, as a Nurse, I knew the context of the records and this made it much easier to work out what was being said. I would imagine if an examiner is managing a set of papers from one subject, then they will know what answers they are looking for, so the context should make it a bit easier to decipher ( hopefully)

I don’t know the answer, but I would say that indecipherable handwriting doesn’t seem to have stopped most doctors passing exams and qualifying.

Hopefully this is a diminishing problem as it's easier and easier to switch a child to typing. It would be well worth asking about this for sixth form OP, it can take a real load off an untidy writer who's probably spent the last 11 years being told to just try harder or print.

We went to one RG uni where a student said they had not handwritten a single uni exam, it was all typing, and in work they are very likely to be typing almost exclusively. I think Handwritten exams at uni are still common elsewhere though.

It's interesting the different responses from examiners. I'm an examiner as well, in humanities, for 4 or 5 different papers, though all for the same board. We mark full papers not question items, and we can't pass up papers for illegibility. About once per season I get something really tough to read. I've always flagged it to my team leader, and always been told 'just do your best and if it's absolutely illegible, give it 0'.

Having said that in this example it's not illegible. It would slow me down and be annoying, but I can decipher it.

If his writing is deemed unreadable his school should have allowed him use of IT so he can type his answers.

GCSE examiners are pretty good, but I am shocked his school have not requested this if that bad.

I work in a university. If I can't read what the student has written then I can't give them the marks.

I suspect they sent it to the class teacher to decipher!

That’s better than my handwriting. My dd has dyspraxia and I suspect I have too. Somehow they do read most handwriting

Yes. The OP's son should be fine, but those who need a scribe really need to be able to practise with the scribe, particularly if the scribe is also reading for the candidate.

Students with poor handwriting should be picked up ideally before year10 and exam arrangements for their usual way of working be put in place.

Some students have laptop or scribe for eg (I support students with exam arrangements in my job). Also having a scribe isn't all that great as it's a skill to dictate your work that does drain exam time (even with extra time).

If it is truly illegible they can type it.

Cursive is a curse.

Why anyone writes like this is 🤯

Can your DS read his own writing @Hadsuchahardday

I'm pretty good - I worked with illegible men for long enough, but all the swirls and loops...🤦🏻‍♀️

I hope he gets the results he needs and has worked for,

They probably sent them to a pharmacist 🤣

I find this fascinating, do you just print everything with none of the letters joined up? I can't imagine not joining the letters of words together when I write and really struggle when I have to print things out.