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Original poster

Scribe for GSCE exams - any experience please?

34 replies

bindibahji · 07/09/2011 16:34

Child has sld Iincluding severe handwriting problems and is sitting his first 2 gcses this school year.
School are aware of his dyslexia problems etc but as he is very bright, they have put him down for the academic route, 11 gcses. in total including things like history which involve a LOT of writing. None of which he is likely to pass if no-one can read his writing or decipher his spelling.
School have said ''oh yes'' to my bleating on about getting him a scribe but whose decision is it? WHo do I nag (AND I HAVE LEARNED ENOUGH TO KNOW i must NAG...;) )
If the worst came to the worst, could I offer to pay for it myself?

Any experience or advice please?

OP posts:
oldmum42 · 07/09/2011 17:23

Worth thinking about the future, what will happen in university/work? Scribes are not a "real life solution", we were pushed by DS2's school, in the direction of using a scribe for exams, but we refused saying we wanted him to use a computer as this is how he would deal with his Dyslexia on a day to day basis in University and work. Amazingly, the schools head of special needs rubbished this idea on the grounds that "Dyslexic can't spell" (there one-solution-fits-all was Scribes for everyone with any kind of SLD affecting writing). We pushed for, and got to use a computer (with spell check of course)for the exams. We made the decision to push for a computer rather than a scribe for 2 reasons, first, DS2 said relaying his thoughts to another person would interrupt his trains of thought and he felt, lower his exam marks, but secondly, on the advice of family members and a friend, who between them teach at 3 different Universities - all expressed the opinion that computers should be used were ever possible, and that they would be unhappy with the use of a scribe for any student actually capable of typing an exam, as computers are promoting ABILITY and Scribes (unless actualy needed for other reasons) are emphasizing DISABILITY.

mumeeee · 07/09/2011 17:12

DD3 had a scribe for her GCSE's. The SENCO at school arranged an assessment for her and then it was agreed with the exam boards.

PonceyMcPonce · 07/09/2011 17:05

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PonceyMcPonce · 07/09/2011 17:05

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CrosswordAddict · 07/09/2011 16:51

See the Examinations Officer fairly early in the academic year as these special arrangement have to be sorted well ahead.
Candidates can either have a scribe who hand-writes down what they want to put or they may be allowed to use a word processor without the spell check.

goinggetstough · 07/09/2011 16:42

My DS has a reader not a scribe and it was the SENCO that had to carry out the tests to see if he qualified for a reader and he has poor writing too so was allowed to type his answers.

MaureenMLove · 07/09/2011 16:40

I don't have any personal experience of using a scribe, but at my secondary school there are plenty that do. We usually use TA's to scribe and they are arranged through the exams officer. Have you spoken directly to the exams office or just his class teachers?

scaryteacher · 07/09/2011 16:38

You may have to pay, but I invigilated an A level this year where the student dictated their answer and it was typed as they spoke.

Nag the exams officer who should be the one to facilitate this for you.

Original poster
bindibahji · 07/09/2011 16:38

oh and if anyone's child out there has actually had a scribe for exams, how was it for them? How did you prepare for it?

OP posts: