Grade Boundaries, SPaG mark losses, dyslexia

My DC are dyslexic and for my daughter, an A was an impossibility even though she is bright. Her confidence just wasn't there and her dyslexia wasn't officially diagnosed until year 10. Now my son is a totally different character and gained A in maths and all sciences. Both DC have horrendous processing issues and are entitled to use word processors in exams and can have an extra 25% time allocation. So yes in theory it is possible to gain A*, just depends on the person, the school and how they are feeling on the day of the exam.

I don't agree with early entry but they start the KS4 syllabus in year 9 and do two GCSEs in that year. She would have done maths as well but that was pulled at the last minute due to only the first attempt counting for league tables. The school found that they could get virtually all pupils through English by allowing 3 attempts at it.

I think it was an advantage to her as she clearly doesn't do her best work in exams. Her controlled assessments were all A*. She will now do English Lit GCSE.

I do think its very sad that schools have entered y10 pupils into the GCSE exams in their first term of key stage 4. It makes a mockery of the system. And to what end? A clearly bright girl being upset with a C. What are they going to do for the rest of key stage 4?

Kitchendiner thanks for your good wishes! She only got a C in the exam so 1 mark short of A overall - going back for remark. DD is gutted and seems to be in the mindset that she always messes up exams.

camptown No. We were working with the school's Special Needs Coordinator. She had had extra time at her previous school, she moved for A levels. The Special Needs Co-ordinator realised there was a problem when she came to input DDs scores from the Ed Psych assessment that was done for GCSE into the Exam Boards computer system ahead of her AS exams and it came back with a message that her Working Memory and Processing Scores, which were at the bottom of average, did not qualify her for extra time. Her writing speed is at the tenth percentile, there has never been any question that that score isn't in the lowest possible range.

We bought forward the assessment she needs for university, and the test that they use for that scored her working memory as below average and processing right down with her writing speed, so she did get extra time. However the teacher assessor, expressed anger that now the regulations do focus on absolute scores for working memory and processing. That, as was expressed by the various associations representing independent schools and those with Dyslexia, to OFQUAL at the meeting I posted a link about, discriminates against bright dyslexics whilst tipping the playing field in favour of the less bright. Since ability is not taken into account those who are very bright for whom average WM and P scores are actually much lower than you would predict and a significant disability will no longer get extra time and those whose ability is in fact below average and so would be predicted to have below average WM and P will.

Speed is apparently seen as something that pupils can fool the tests on. A lot of the thinking behind the changes to regulations appears to assume mass fraud.

Had the tests not yielded low enough scores the back up option was to provide further evidence of need. She was first formally diagnosed in Year 5 (but had been supported from Year 2) so we had gathered that from two previous schools, no teacher has ever been less than adamant that she needs extra time to be able to demonstrate her ability in timed conditions. However we were advised there was no guarantee that would be accepted.

Shooting - you are wrong on this.

Speed is taken into account: candidates whose reading speed, or writing speed or processing speed is in the below average range may be awarded extra time.

Your school SENCo should be able to arrange testing, and applications for extra time in the summer have to be in before 21 March. Schools should not accept reports from privately commissioned Ed Psychs unless the school has commissioned the report and supplied evidence of the candidate's difficulty.

Speaking and listening isn't included in the overall GCSE now as its given as a separate mark (unfortunately). Do the iGCSEs still have it included?

I teach English at an academy. We do the IGCSE (love this course - great for developing the skills of pupils rather than teaching to one particular test).

Our students with dyslexia have done well under the IGCSE. Last year, one dyslexic student had coursework at a B grade, S&L at an A grade and achieved one of the highest exam grades in the year group and ended up being an A* overall. It is possible.

Which exam board is he using for English?

My DD in year 10, sat the GCSE English last November - the last cohort (I believe)for which the speaking and listening counts. She is dyslexic and is awaiting her result tomorrow with some trepidation. She got A/A* in the controlled assessment components.

My DD is dyslexic and dyspraxic and suffered at the hands of the Gove inspired grade deflation in English the year before last (actually in the English Literature I GCSE, it wasn't widely publicised that there were big anomalies there too ) I don't think the new SPAG rules applied.however without a doubt the pupils with SpLDs were disproportionately affected.

We also discovered with weeks to go that the tightening of regulations on extra time meant she might loose it, speed is no longer taken into account and working memory and processing score have to be below average ( regardless of ability and that average scores would still represent a significant disability to those of high ability) and we had to get an updated Ed Psych report to justify it. The Dyslexia Association is fighting on that front too, the new regulations discriminate against bright dyslexics. This is Ofquals justification following representations www2.ofqual.gov.uk/how-we-regulate/90-articles/864-extra-time-in-qualification-examinations-and-assessments-for-learners-with-dyslexia-or-other-specific-learning-difficulties and Dyslexia Actions take dyslexiaaction.org.uk/news/latest-examination-access-arrangements-and-special-considerations Please raise that as well if you write to your MP.

This year she scored in the high 90+ per cents on all four ASs, and 100% in one ( and that involved 2 back to back 3 hour exams, she was a basket case at the end, straight to bed with cold compresses on her hands, she is slightly less slow in writing than on a computer stripped of word processing) She worked very hard indeed but it is doable. After GCSE it seemed as if her wish to study Literature at uni was closed down but she has four offers to read English Literature at the best non Oxbridge unis in the subject table. School advised that the unis know exactly what is going on. And yes support is so much better at uni. I am just glad we are nearly out of Gove's sphere of influence.

Hi all, I have just written to my MP to raise these issues. Apparently the Dyslexia association are encouraging people to do this. I encourage you all to do the same. You can do it easily over the internet. I also suggest you include some key points. Firstly, that UN rights for the child convention states that children have the right to be consulted on matters that affect them. I have asked my MP if any SEN children were consulted on the changes made to the GCSE some of which have been altered following the start of the course. Secondly, it is against the law to place people at a disadvantage because of their disability. As dyspraxia and dyslexia are listed disabilities then changes that immediately disadvantage them must be illegal? Starting an exam with -12% feels like a disadvantage to me. Re extra time the deadline is end of Jan so we dont have much time here!

My son is in y11 on all linear gcse courses. He has dyspraxia and all docs to prove it but we have been told that its unlikely he will be given extra time due to new strict rules. From baseline screening in y7 he was predicted Bs. Now hes looking at Ds (C (maths) D and E in others in the mocks). I would be over the moon with Cs. Its so depressing and heartbreaking. Hes had to put with his SEN and general abuse from (ex) friends and even some parents. So wish he could of made it through before the changes. :( so sad about it.

Kitchendiner - interesting what your SENCo said about the software. Our advice was given last month so should be up to date - maybe it's because she is doing English? I am going to double check.

I have to say, I think all of our children are amazing to keep going with the level of difficulty they face every day.

On the plus side, from what we are being told, there seem to be a much more common sense and practical approach to dyslexia at university.

My daughter got A and A* in 10 GCSEs - it is possible but she worked incredibly hard (without exaggeration probably 3 or 4 x harder than her brother who should get similar results this year) and has developed all sorts of strategies over the years to cope. Her post 16 assessment qualifies her for extra time and a reader for her A levels, she has decided not to use a scribe. She is doing all essay based subjects at A level!

Kitchendiner re: the use of a laptop - she was told that she cannot use any spell checking software in exams. When her poor spelling was added to the typos, she has decided that she would be better off not using one. With hindsight a touch typing course may have been useful.

Oh and she lost her A* for core science purely on a Writting marathon CA (she got 99% on one paper and 96, I think on another)

Not that she should be doing double anyway, that's the fault of a dyslexia discriminating against Twat

Without speaking and listening a B will be DD1's A* in English too.

Her preferred six form are insisting on a B for English, it's causing a lot of stress.

As are spellings in Geography, it's ridiculous in the real world you look up a technical term before putting it in a report if you spell like I do.

I don't understand the comment about iGCSE - can you elaborate? My son is doing a normal GCSE and has been told the S and L he did in year 10 (full marks) will not be part of his final English grade but reported separately.

My son is in year 11. He was assessed and denied a scribe and reader at the start of year 10. I don't know what the assessment was just the outcome. He was very close - especially the reader part, but not close enough. His spelling is awful but it is phonetic. His handwriting difficult to read to (he is also dyspraxic). He received a scribe and reader for year 6 primary SATS.

He did manage an A in Physics in year 10 and high B iin chemistry and biology with just extra time (he writes and reads slowly too, so extra time allows that to be fair)..

With all the changes and spag should I be requesting another assessment for the scribe as clearly the goalposts have moved and 5 marks is a huge amount when you think how many children are literally 1 mark either side of the grade boundary.

Crazymum have you ever tried dictating exam answers letter by letter?

Not only is there not enough extra time to do this, it severely disrupts the concentration.

Yes, some marks can be picked up for punctuation and grammar but the marks for spelling are not achievable.

Have a look at the following link for more information on sPAG marks.
www.aqa.org.uk/news-and-policy/policy/changes-to-gcses/spelling-punctuation-and-grammar. It is possible for students with a scribe to obtain at least some of these marks. On many papers there is usually a special symbol in the margin (usually a pen or similar) to indicate that a SPAG mark is available for that question and then the student can dictate spelling and punctuation to their scribe for that question (or part question). The guidelines say that the candidate should know which questions carry the sPAG marks so this system is likely to be extended to other papers.
However to obtain the marks the scribe must fill in the cover sheet provided by the exam board to indicate that spelling, punctuation and grammar are the candidates own work. If this is filled in correctly the candidates are likely to be awarded the marks. This can also be done for candidates completing the exam on a word-processor. If the cover sheet is not filled in and signed no sPAG marks can be awarded by the examiner.
At GCSE (subjects other than English language) the punctuation mark is usually for writing a relevant sentence beginning with a capital letter and ending in a full stop. This should be achievable by most candidates.
HTH