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Original poster

Any exam officers here? Or people with equivalent knowledge of exam board processes re special requirements?

30 replies

ncme · 17/03/2022 13:54

If an A Level student has an unavoidable clash between an exam date and something Very Important, and an official letter to prove it, is it ever possible to sit the exam earlier or later in the same day? The relevant exam board in this case is AQA.

I haven't given details of what the Very Important thing is because I'm not seeking judgement on the strength of the case, I just want to know if its possible in principle and what the process would be.

OP posts:
Starwind74 · 17/03/2022 14:08

I had. exams clash 40 odd years ago , I did one in the morning one in the afternoon, and had to spend lunchtime on my own in a room ,

Exibstudent · 17/03/2022 14:07

Forgot to include the link:
www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ICE_20-21_FINAL.pdf
This is the official published guidance.

Exibstudent · 17/03/2022 14:06

Look at 7.1 in this guide- the basic answer is no. Schools are only allowed to vary the timetable for exam clashes.

LIZS · 17/03/2022 14:05

Exam clashes are dealt with by supervision by staff, overnight even, before taking the paper to avoid risk of finding out exam content. I would think there are limited other circumstances in which delays in sitting a paper are permissible.

TeenPlusCat · 17/03/2022 14:01

No knowledge. Feel free to ignore. Smile

Except
If they had an exam clash then this would be possible and the student would be supervised between the exams to make sure they didn't get any info about the exam.

I guess an issue might be how could integrity of the exam be maintained whilst this other Very Important thing was happening.

I can't see them allowing it lightly, but equally I could imagine a few limited situations (eg regular essential medical treatment) where maybe it would be allowed.