Access arrangements for GCSEs not being adhered to by school

[Houseplantmad]

Have put this in SEN but really need to be able to offer friend some support tonight:

My friend's Year 11 DS is entitled to a reader, scribe and 25% extra time - all applied for and confirmed in Year 9. Throughout Year 10 the access arrangements were patchy or non-existent. This week he has assessments and in this morning's assessment he was told there was no-one to read or scribe for him so he'd just have to manage. In his geography assessment this afternoon he was told he would have to sit side on at the teacher's desk so the teacher could read the questions and he could supply the answers - all in front of the other students taking the assessment, which was humiliating for him and the rest of the class could hear his answers! Surely this isn't right?

My friend is desperate as her son is being disadvantaged and is losing confidence. She wrote to the Head and SEN Governor last year but nothing has changed. Can anyone advise what to do next please?. I've looked up last year's JCQ rules for her and they are breaking them but can anyone, maybe a SENCo, advise me what she should do next please?

I'd email my MP at this point. If the school and governors wont sort it then go to your MP and ask what to do.

Thanks @WeepingSomnambulist good idea.

I'd ask for their complaints process and follow that to the letter, the Chair of governors is also an option but will probably come up in the complaints process anyway.
If that process doesn't yield results then that's the time go external.

If they have no staff and are doing best endeavours to supply the arrangements with what they've got...what else are you expecting?

Maybe there just isn’t another adult available to do this? As frustrating and unfair as it is, schools are massively understaffed.

If every child entitled to extra had it for every single assessment, they would need to hire so many extra people for just a few days per half term. When it comes to entitlements, I think it’s just for the GCSE exam itself and not for every single end of module test in year 10. If not, he would need it for 8-10 assessments, 6 times a year (for each half term). That just isnt feasible at all. They should also provide a scribe / reader / extra time for mocks for him to have the proper experience.

As for the pp suggesting go to your MP, thanks for the laugh. I literally snorted into my tea.

Formal complaint straight to Head and C of G explaining it all and how publicly drawing attention to SEN rather then giving the required resources is humiliating and could cause anxiety.

But for each assessment are you talking about a test in class as hod knows how many children there are in a school with 25% extra time etc how does the teacher manage that in a lesson?
eg 40 minute test - 1 child needs a scribe and extra time eg 10 minutes - is that teacher ten minutes late to their next lesson? What about if there isn’t a ta - as there aren’t spare - what then? Does the pupil and teacher give up their lunchtimes ? so I think the reality is it must be so so hard for teachers to do this for every test or assessment.
Mocks and end of year assessment I can see - but where do you stop?

JCQ regs only apply to NEA or exams sat under boards regulated by JCQ.

Reading pens are good when a human reader isn’t available.

It's difficult because when you have students in a class with access arrangements, it's often difficult to accommodate in a normal lesson. 25% extra time often means running into lunch or break. Scribes and readers mean a separate room if you have a class of thirty in a room. It sounds as if the Geog teacher in the OP was doing their best.

As a teacher, I would try and get TA support for this, but it has become harder and harder. Scribes etc are supposed to be a child's normal way of working, but there just aren't enough people in a school to provide that. Even where children have an EHCP, there aren't enough TAs to go around.

Of course it's not right. But we have not replaced the 5 TAs who left last academic year because we have no money.
So whilst Bob is entitled to a scribe in his assessments, we can't magic him one up. We'd love to. But we don't have the money.

Thanks all. @User135792468 The JCQ regulations state access arrangements should be adhered to "for internal school tests, mock examinations and examinations". These are formal assessments that he is taking this week under supposed exam conditions.

This child hasn't had proper access arrangements EVER, and he's now in his GCSE year so is being massively disadvantaged compared to his peers who go into every test/assessment/exam knowing what to expect and how things work.
@Simonjt correct, and my friend has been pushing for a reading pen (having found out about them this time last year) as an alternative but nothing has been forthcoming, which is why it's so frustrating.
Thanks again all.

She could just buy a reading pen.

Are they not several hundred pounds?

She has been willing to but the SENCO insists they will put the correct kit/arrangements in place so that they comply but it hasn't happened.

If they have an EHCP then remind them that it's a legal document and must be adhered to.

They’re from about £70-£260 depending on the model you choose.

Would be interested for my vi dm, if you can link please?

Sorry OP, that's awful and not great for your child, but I have to echo other posters and suggest that there simply isn't the staff.

Unless I can get another teacher to give up their PPA time to scribe/ read / prompt then I cannot offer it in my lessons for assessments either. We have a trainee starting so I'll be bribing her. I have 2 PPAs this week (2 hours) and I would probably say no if I were asked to give one up to scribe.

It's shit.

It's shit. But if there is no one available I'm literally stuck with no other option. I can't magic up a person to read and scribe.

TAs are resigning in droves to get paid more WFH.

This. 2 of my 3 had adjustments for the actual mocks and exams but not for simple classroom tests.

I work in a school exams team and we would provide these arrangements for Mocks and actual GCSE exams but not for class based assessments. There are not enough TA's to go around. The cost of bringing in a trained, DBS checked adult for every child who has an EHCP is considerable. As others have said your friend should continue to raise this as an issue with the Exams office, Senior management at school, board of Governors. sorry.

I agree re mocks. Students always have full access arrangements for them, from external invigilators.

One of my children has similar access arrangements. We went through a patch earlier on in secondary school when such arrangements weren’t being adhered to. I went through all the schools SEND policies and the law regarding disability discrimination and spoke to the EHRC who were very helpful because he was being discriminated against on the grounds of his disabilities. The school has a duty to make sure that a child with disabilities is not at a disadvantage in exams / lessons due to their disabilities. I had a meeting with the SENCo and pointed this out, citing the relevant law and giving examples of how my child was being disadvantaged. After that, a scribe and a TA were provided for the lessons and all exams where they were necessary. This was without an EHCP.

@Houseplantmad Op, in an ideal world, I agree, the child should have access arrangements for each assessment. Unfortunately, it just isn’t going to happen. Not because the school is being awkward but because they just don’t have the staff.

All Ta’s and Lsa’s are deployed in lessons. The same lessons I’m sure the child has benefitted from help in. You can’t just take them out from a lesson helping other children, to read and scribe a class, end of topic test which is mainly for the teacher to track progress and that doesn’t go towards a GCSE grade. Add 25% time to it and then this disrupts the next lesson - more children not supported by the TA who is missing again and then the child misses a quarter of their next lesson. Logistically it won’t work. It can only work properly in mocks as they are timetabled differently to allow for this.

Every parent will want the best for their child, as they should. However, the reality in a state education system is different. Sad, but unfortunately true. Tell her to invest in the reading pen and to talk to the senco to find out when they can facilitate it to ensure he gets the experience before the real thing.