Teen’s handwriting & GCSEs

[registeruname]

My DS handwriting is barely legible. He’s in year 10. The teachers have asked him to improve it but it’s always been bad. Despite the handwriting - he is doing averagely in all subjects.

He was late to start writing, is on the autistic spectrum, with some mild sensory issues.

Question is: how do we manage exams? I’m worried his handwriting will pull his GCSE marks down.

Any advice for managing exams?? Can we ask for extra time or a computer for exams??

You can certainly get the ball rolling on getting assessed for EAA (exam access arrangements) for potentially a scribe or use of a laptop but it needs doing well in advance of the exams as needs approval from exam boards and evidence that it is his "normal way of working". Some schools are better set up for this than others. Are there school laptops he could use in class?

Examiners are used to reading all sorts of horrible handwriting; however, I would speak to the school SENCo if his handwriting is bad enough for teachers to have commented. A laptop is a centre delegated arrangement (no application to the exam board needed) but must be the student’s normal way of working. There is plenty of time to establish this before his GCSEs.

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My son had this issue and the SENCO arranged for him to use a laptop in lessons and could then say this was his usual way of working so that he was able to use the laptop in GCSEs and then A-levels at college. There is no way he would have been able to pass any without this. We had tried to improve his handwriting for years and nothing worked. When he went to university he was assessed and they found he was dyslexic (no other sign apart from the handwriting) and that he also had ADHD (which was a shock but in hindsight explained a lot with regards to disorganisation, decision making and behavioural quirks).

His school should have issues him a laptop ages ago

He definitely should have one and extra time for all exams

They've been assessing him the whole time he's been at school so they can do all this in minutes

Sorry his school are useless but they should be proactive and do it immediately

OP, you can read JCQ’s access arrangement guidance here. The use of a word processor needs to be the pupil’s normal way of working but it doesn’t require the school to make an application via access arrangements online.

Before registering any student with typing as normal way of working, schools need to make sure it's better.

I've a student this year who is decidedly NOT better at typing because she's very painfully slow at it. She's not eligible for extra time so it makes things worse.

Instead, we've got her some handwriting intervention which is much better.

Also - try different pens. I have a box of different types in my classroom and some students do much better with fountain pens. No idea why.

His school should have issues him a laptop ages ago

Out of what money would a school be doing that?

My DS had a handwriting speed assessment with an Occupational Therapist. This went towards allowing him extra time in exams, as well as a laptop, scribe, own room & rest breaks.

For clarification, he does have an EHCP & diagnoses of autism/ADHD so not sure if he may have had those allowances anyway.

But may be worth you contacting an Occupational Therapist to see if they can help or advise.

He could be allowed to use a laptop for written exams. It needs to be established as his normal way of working in class and timed assessments. Speak to Sendco as to how to set this up in time for mocks.

Can he type? If not then could you get him going with a typing program at home if you have a computer?
This will help him hugely. Then speak to the school sendco about allowing him to type in both lessons and exams.
Has he been assessed for other conditions such as dyspraxia or dysgraphia?

Oh yes and he may be allowed extra time in exams.
My son has the same issue and has multiple diagnosis. He is allowed to type and have extra time in exams.

He may have dysgraphia and his handwriting may never improve from where it is now. DS has it and took all his exams on a laptop in a separate room but the school had to prove that he'd been doing his work on a laptop prior to exams. Ask your Senco to put this in place if you think he's going to fail exams because of his handwriting.

Speaking as a teacher, if you push for it (and he can type at a reasonable pace) then a slow, crap, laptop will be provided for formal exams.

If you want him to use one in class, then you need to provide it. Microsoft Surfaces and ipads with the "magic" keyboards are good.

We have absolutely loads of students like this. It's not about being useless, it's about not having the funding to chuck laptops at everyone. I understand the OP's case is slightly different, given her child's needs, however we are getting loads of kids coming to us from primary who can only produce some sort of messy scrawl. Many primaries have put handwriting practise on the back burner due to curriculum pressures and guess what? At secondary our curriculum pressures mean we have no time for it either (plus, we are secondary school teachers and not trained to teach handwriting). Someone needs to take a look at the primary curriculum - we get kids who can tell us the definition of a 'fronted adverbial' (totally unnecessary) but can't read, write or spell.

There is absolutely an exam access arrangement (AA) for using a word processor but all access arrangements have to be the student's 'usual way of working' so best to get that sorted out now in Year 10 via the SENCO or Exams Officer.

School will consider typing speed though but you may be able to support this at home if your child is amenable. My daughter has an AA for a word processor and was assessed with a similar typing speed to writing speed, so no big disadvantage using the laptop. I'm trying to get her to practise typing more but she's not so keen.

Extra time is a separate access arrangement and some word processor students will have it and some will not. It depends on whether your child is assessed as needing it to ensure they are not disadvantaged (or indeed advantaged) over other students. We have an external assessor who comes in and does a variety of assessments to determine eligibility.

For extra time, standardised scores/a Form 8 are not required when the disability is ASD.

^This. However, a diagnosis of ASD does not entitle someone to extra time. There needs to be teacher evidence that needing extra time is the student's normal way of working in lessons, assessments and exams

Laptops do not always improve things in my experience. They may, but may not. A bit of trial and error. I find switching from cursive writing helps some.

Yes, I wasn’t implying everyone with ASD gets or needs extra time or that evidence isn’t required/it doesn’t have to be normal way of working, just that low standardised scores aren’t required.

Yes! Cursive is sometimes part of the problem.

My son got a computer for almost all his exams due to his handwriting - the school arranged for this on his behalf after discussing it with him - the additional support needs teacher arranged it - I am in Scotland though, I think the starting point is the school so you can get arrangements in place if possible. He did well in all his exams !

Just to echo the others, my DS is autistic and has a laptop.

However he only has it for exams. He used to have it in class, he started using it in year 5. But he uses a pen for most lessons these days. They still give him a laptop for exams though.

Should I be worried this may not continue if it's only meant to be for people who use it in class?

Meant to say - he does not have any diagnosis apart from poor handwriting , a lot of his friends were similar, I just assumed handwriting is dying out !

DS is in year 7 and had a dysgraphia assessment by an OT at the end of year 5. He learned to touch type using Englishtype programme.
He uses a laptop (we bought it, not sure you can expect school to provide!) and gets extra time in exams. At the moment these are just in school exams.
It has helped him, his main problem is maths now.

I didn't know what dysgraphia was until my DS was diagnosed with it. Nothing he'd ever done had worked with improving his handwriting - not the books you wrote over, not practice, not anything.

He should've got extra time in exams but his school was useless so he didn't.

What helped him a bit was posture (always sitting at a table to write) and swapping out his pens to one which helped him to write more slowly. His writing was still awful, but it was marginally more legible. (Another poster mentioned that using a fountain pen helped with their child - this may have been because it slowed them down.)

Good luck. I do believe my son's dysgraphia really did hurt him when it came to exam results - you can't expect someone who has to mark hundreds of exam papers to spend hours deciphering spider-writing. But the school were useless even though I started engaging with them about it in Y7.