What can parents do when access arrangements are not properly met eg

[Examdebacle]

Ds had exam and is supposed to get a smaller room and extra time.
The place has put him twice in an area that's subject to human traffic before and during the exam and at the end.
We complained once and he said he wasn't again sat in the same spot today?

I'm so angry.

He wasn’t or he was?

Sorry! Spell checker.

He was sat in exactly the same place. Apparently he complained and they said he wouldn't be disturbed but he said he was ,not as much but he definitely was.

How serious is it? I thought AA arrangements were taken really seriously?

They are. And yes, complain. Start with the exams officer.

We /he complained there's last time.
And sat in same spot. This is why I am so cross.

What kind of exam was this? Official, external exam? If so, definitely complain. If not, still complain, but expect a different level of seriousness to be placed on it.

The reality is there are limited suitable spaces and likely lots of students needing access arrangements.

The issue is the sheer number of students who have access arrangements, there really is not space for them all, and there isn't staffing either.

WHat sort of exam is it?

He's in a corridor??

Was this a real exam or a mock?

It's a college exam not gcse, btech. He needs these grade's for uni!

He said it was a huge hall area but no one except his class in there and other places to put him and handful of other AA students.
He said it's hard to describe but he was right by a door which is where other rooms are and corridor and people making noise,doors opening and closing banging etc.
He said if he had been at the other side it won't have been as bad.

Hard to get a picture and tell if its just the normal background noise you always get in a school, but access arrangements take a huge amount of space and staffing, and schools often just done have them

There are no exam rooms away from corridors, etc.

I was once invigilating in a room where candidates had word processors, and one candidate complained about the noise of the others typing. Nothing at all we could do about it.

So he was in a separate room, just distracted by noise outside. What exam was it? Were there signs up outside that an exam was in prigress to reduce noise? All you can do is query with exams officer.

Firstly, have the college definitely accepted that he is entitled to a small room? There is quite strict guidance on this now, and I believe medical evidence is needed. Some schools do bend the rules on this so it may not be the case he is entitled.

Secondly, I believe the "small room" applies to the number of students in a room, rather than the actual size of the room. "Small room" is not the same as being alone in the room, so the college may have technically met this.

Specific seating is a separate access arrangement. If he needs to be sat away from certain parts of the room, this can normally be easily arranged BUT it is a separate access arrangement and would need to go through a formal process.

I fully understand it is not ideal, but JCQ have really tightened up a lot of the rules in recent years, and if a centre is found to not be following the rules correctly it can have major consequences for everyone.

So you need to decide what it is you need to request- e.g. solo room, specific seating etc and contact the SENCo/exams office and see what evidence they will need.

Don't forget, with a btec exam he can retake in the summer if he doesn't get the grade he needs.

Did he get his extra time?

I don't want to be too specific.
It's really important exam.
The room was like a large hall he said they were the only people in there.

If they had been placed at the other end it would have been much better. His fellow ET student's were right by the door and near the bag drop.
When other students finished they all went past him. Had he been at the back he wouldn't have had this but also he was by the door.

So again students had to go past him to go out for loo breaks and so on.

He said there wer no other students in there , it was a large empty hall and this is why I'm so cross.

The time before he said another group had been in there but there was still space to create a better quiet area.

We can't understand it, it feels very careless.
This is why I'm asking if anyone knows just how important these things are?

They seem to have yes! He has it on his arrangements, he has quite severe dyslexia.

Just sat away from a door would be helpful? What students would want to be there when there was other choices apparently?

So he has extra time, but gets disturbed by the other students leaving at the end of their time? Its impossible to avoid this, really

It is normal to have others leaving earlier than he has finished , especially if he has extra time. Often different exams are in the same room with different durations. Did he not have similar for gcses?

Yes ,I understand that but being by the door and bag drop?

When he doesn't have to be?

People coming in and out for the loo, noise from the corridor outside?

Well, of course we know they are important, but it's very hard to advise if you are not able to say what specifically is agreed with the centre.

If you look at the current JCQ guidance it says "sitting the examination outside of the main examination hall" and "sitting the exam in a smaller room of candidates". The latter has been met but not the former. The threshold for both are quite high- e.g. general anxiety normally no longer meets the threshold for this.

It sounds like there were less than 30 students in the hall overall- assuming a max class size at college of 20? So that would count as a "smaller room of candidates".

What I would suggest is instead of complaining, request specific seating for him as an additional access arrangement E.g. "At the back of the room" or even "at the back right corner of the room" or wherever he knows would be quiet. The threshold for specific seating is very low, and would hopefully avoid the issues you are currently having.

I totally agree the situation does not sound ideal, but I'm not sure the centre has broken any access arrangements.

This is what I would do.

1. Repost on Secondary Education and on SEN as people there will have experience.
2. Contact the SENCO at college clearly stating again why this wasn't good enough and detailing the disturbance your DS felt, and asking whether they can apply for extra consideration for him.
3. Does he have further exams for this BTEC either this year or next? If so then get him to go to talk to someone regarding this.

My DD is at college and gets extra time. When there are exams for BTECs / GCSEs going on seemingly everywhere is taken over for the access arrangements pupils (eg the whole of learning support for starters).

Is the access arrangement specifically due to the fact he is more easily distracted than other candidates? Do you have evidence this is the case?

People get "small/separate room" arrangements for lots of different reasons.

As I said, you can request specific seating for him, and the evidence threshold for this is not high. You could request "not near the door" potentially.

He won't get special consideration for normal exam hall levels of noise, unfortunately. The thresholds to get this are very high.

The JCQ rules have all been tightened up in relatively recent years, and a lot of candidates who previously got certain access arrangements now no longer meet thresholds.

It is a major problem, and really unfair IMO, but schools and colleges have to follow the rules or all students could be penalised.

I've had two students told this year they no longer meet the threshold for having a separate room- and it really isn't ideal. Especially on changing settings, students are often reassessed and sometimes lose access arrangements they previously had.

@Postapocalypticcowgirl

That's really helpful thank you. Re the amount of students I think that's what they said she last time.
It's unfortunate but we accepted that but it was the et quiet room students placed in the noisest place we couldn't fathom.

Once he was in a an actual smaller room, and that was wonderful but each time he is put somewhere different.
This is the worst spot and we can't understand why anyone with et and aa would be sat there.

Unfortunately this is the last exam now.

If he doesn't get the grade he needs, he will be able to retake in the summer, so it's worth looking into.

Getting specific seating shouldn't be too difficult.

However, hopefully despite everything, he'll still have achieved a pass, and if his assignments are at a higher standard, he can still get a good overall grade.

Post thank you.

It's such a shame. He really doesn't want to re sit it was nearly 4 something hours in the end and so much for him to remember.