exam cheat

[morbeus]

My daughter has been accused of cheating in her BTEC Art by her teacher. The teacher has set a pretty harsh penalty and there seems to be no right of appeal or even hearing. It is a strong accusation with possible far reaching consequences and I think my daughter has a case that should be heard independently of this teacher. Has anyone else had similar experience?

Hi everyone - thanks again for all the advice and comments. I'm sorry if I'm confusing everyone - the exact title of the exam is a BTEC First in Art & Design, and from the school handbook "The portfolio of work produced for each unit is marked internally and moderated by an external moderator".

So, as I said before, she may well have done something wrong although she claims she wasn't told she wasn't allowed to bring the work home on this particular occasion. She also says she has several witnesses (most of the class) who will testify to this. And also, this particular unit of work has another session devoted to it next Tuesday.

In all honesty, I don't really understand what the teacher has done here as it seems that the unit isnt even finished yet. I understand exactly what the teacher has done/said to DD, as DD is clear in her recital of the incident. I intend to bring my confusion to the meeting with the HT on Monday and hopefully she can shed some light on it, and tell me how this one teacher can threaten the thing she has. And can I be clear here - if DD has done wrong (still would be very surprised if she has actually "cheated" though) then she should, of course, be penalised in some way (not sure disqualifying her from all GCSE's is the way to go though). What I strongly object to is the way this has been handled, and the name-calling/tale-telling/lack of information which has happened.

DD has written quite a detailed version of what went on, and as someone mentioned above (sorry, can't remember who), we are taking her with us to the meeting, initially to wait outside. The reason we didn't say anything to school on Monday was because we thought there must have been a misunderstanding as no-one from school had contacted us, and they surely would have done so in such a serious case. And as I said yesterday, this still remains the case. I have tried ringing school today, but there are no staff in - I also went up there to deliver a letter to the HT setting out our side of things so she has a chance to do some investigation. Fully intend to be calm - will have DH with me too as I tend to veer off topic.

Hi Morbeus, yes that's the name of the course that I linked to - it does say there are 10 hours of controlled practical work. It will be marked by her teacher and then moderated by someone from the exam board.

It's the teacher's responsibility to make sure the children don't take the work home, just as it's the staff's responsibility to make sure children don't take mobiles etc into an exam hall. The teacher should have gathered up the work before letting people leave, just as they should collect in exam papers in the exam hall, before they leave. The art studio is an exam hall during controlled assignments.

You need to be aware of this before going in to see the Head Teacher. If your daughter had gone into the studio during break time and taken her folder, worked on it and home then brought it back in surreptitiously, then yes, she would be cheating. But if she picked it up at the end of the lesson because that's what she always does and if the teacher didn't say "Please leave your folders on my desk", then it's the teacher's fault.

Sounds to me as though another teacher has checked that everyone's work was there after the children had gone, found your daughter's was missing and her own teacher is now saying (to save her skin) that your daughter is cheating.

Morbeus,

It may be that the school hasn't contacted you because, on review of the case, they may not be taking it any further. Sometimes people aren't aware of other people's anxieties, especially when they are in their own comfort zones. It is unfortunate that this is straddling half-term as there is little for you to do but worry.

At swim,

I disagree that sticking to exam regulations is all the invigilator's responsibility. It is very much up to the student too. And parents are given a copy of the JCQ regs just to make it totally clear where the responsibility lies.

If a student in a written exam takes their script with them, it is not the invigilator who is breaking the rules. If an invigilator allows a student to break rules, then they should be disciplined, but this doesn't let the student off the hook.

I'd be inclined to conclude that the fact that the school hasn't contacted you means that nothing's going to happen - the teacher was having a bad day, spouted a load of bobbins at your poor daughter and now wants to forget about the whole thing.

Just wanted to update those of you kind enough to be interested and to offer information.

Went to see dd's headmistress today who said there was no question that her GCSE's were under threat, and that dd had not cheated but had done sometging wrong. She also said that the teacher was wrong not to have contacted us at all, wrong to threaten dd with disqualification from the exam and all GCSE's and wrong to say she would not have a place in the sixth form.

H/T also said that she suspected the teacher had acted in anger (she did also excuse her for that by saying that we are all human and make mistakes) and that she was very uncomfortable with the teacher using the phrase "deceitful cheat".

H/T said dd could attend the session which is to be held tomorrow (from which the teacher had banned her), and that she believed that her work would be marked fairly. She will write a letter to the exam board (worded carefully!) to explain that if dd has performed significantly worse than predicted that would be due to mitigating circumstances.

So all in all, a good meeting. Thank you for all the advice and tips, much appreciated.

Well done, good result :)

I'm not sure what the letter to EdExcel would achieve. BTECs are internally marked. The exam board will not mark her up. There isn't a procedure for that. The centre will have already completed their external verification process by now (if in fact they are doing that - there are accredited Lead Verifiers in most centres now).

Glad to hear it went well.

(Can now remove thread from my watch list :) )

The head sounds to have responded well, and there will no doubt be several uncomfortable conversations between her and the teacher concerned.
I'd also expect some close monitoring to be going on so that the teacher regains the standards of professional behaviour required of her. Although that's an internal issue that you are unlikely to get involved in.
Is your daughter OK with how things have turned out? Is she feeling confident and happy about it, and will the head be clear and open in restoring her good name amongst her peers?
I would expect open clarity on that, not just between you and the head.
I wish your daughter luck!

Thank you ladies

DD came with us to meeting - we thought she would start off outside and we would call her in, but H/T said she could come in from the start if she and we were both happy, so she did. I'm glad she did now because she was able to tell the story in her own words, and also hear exactly what was said. She was very happy with the outcome, although she is nervous about seeing the teacher tomorrow. H/T told her to just be dignified and get her head down, and if there were any problems to go straight to her.

I too hope the teacher is monitored, not least because I have 2 other dc at the school, and one more who will be there in a few years, and I'm sure our surname will now be on her radar

basingstoke Mon 06-Jun-11 20:44:40
I'm not sure what the letter to EdExcel would achieve. BTECs are internally marked. The exam board will not mark her up. There isn't a procedure for that. The centre will have already completed their external verification process by now (if in fact they are doing that - there are accredited Lead Verifiers in most centres now).

Ditto.

And you only have to ring edexcel to know they do not talk to parents!

Tis all sorted now basingstoke and trois, posted bit earlier with outcome.

I know. That was the post I was commenting on. The bit about the letter to edexcel.

Oh ok I see. No, the H/T is going to write the letter to the examination boards (mainly OCR or AQA) regarding the GCSE's which dd sat in the week following the cheating accusations - if she does significantly worse than predicted.

That'll be amusing - if she writes mainly to OCE and AQA - considering BTECs are run by Edexcel.

*ocr

Good result. Sounds like a very fair headteacher. Good luck to your DD (and your other DCs going through the school).
Yes, we do all make mistakes. Hope the rest of the exam season continues without drama!

I think the point is that if her other GCSEs show a surprisingly lower grade, the other exam boards will know that there were extenuating circumstances. This is separate to the marking of the BTEC.

If I have read that right.

So what was it happened, OP? Did your daughter take her artwork home without permission? Shouldn't the teacher have stopped her, if so?

Nonno - thank you.

springbok - that's what I meant. Thanks

atswim - she did take it home when she shouldn't have, but that was because, having missed the first hour of the lesson (due to another exam), teacher told her she could finish it after school. Dd took this to mean she could take it home after school. She didn't actually do that much work on it over the weekend - just about an hour to make up for what she missed, and H/T herself made the point that she didn't put much effort into cheating if that's what she had taken it home for.

Sorry morbeus but that made me laugh. The idea of the H/T going 'Well that's just piss-poor cheating - Must try harder'

Type of H/T we all need