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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

A-Level Exams In This Heat

102 replies

PersianCatLady · 20/06/2017 13:17

Hi,

My DS (17) has just left the house to go to school to sit one of his A-Level exams and I am really concerned about this heat.

He has just told me that the room they sit their exams in has no windows and there is no A/C or fans.

AIBU to be concerned about the kids who am sitting exams today and the effect that this heat will have on them and their results??

Thanks

OP posts:

MsMartini · 20/06/2017 15:06

Errol, completely agree. Showing concern for your child on a difficult day in temperatures that are making people faint is just being a kind and reasonable person and parent. Given there isn't anything we can do about the heat or the exams, I don't even know what mollycoddling would be. My ds is very independent and has completed some very tough physical challenges (he is an army cadet and sporty). And yes I am a little concerned about him today.

OP, hope your ds and all the exam takers found it OK today and can cool down at home soon!

Original poster

PersianCatLady · 20/06/2017 15:09

If he cant scrape a B and 2 Cs I think there is more to blame than a few days of heat
Nice, not everyone is as clever as you.

He probably will be absolutely fine and do well but there is a lot to lose if he doesn't get his grades.

I shall let him know that you think that getting a B and 2 Cs is so easy that if he doesn't quite get them, that he has got issues.

OP posts:

Original poster

PersianCatLady · 20/06/2017 15:10

FFS some of you, the OP wasn't saying the exams should be deferred or anything ridiculous like that
Exactly, thank you.

OP posts:

ErrolTheDragon · 20/06/2017 15:12

Errol, you've made me feel guilty, dd is getting the bus

Please don't- DH is pretty much retired, DD is working a lot harder than he is! And the main road has been having problems - random things like accidents plus a major roadworks causing tailbacks, he can avoid those, should be there and back in less time than the bus. She's been coming home on the bus after her other exams, she will tomorrow as it's a morning one and none on thur.

dingit · 20/06/2017 15:17

Persiancat, just ignore the pissy poster. Good luck to your ds, and come back to the results thread an let us know how he did.

ErrolTheDragon · 20/06/2017 15:20

Some kids will have put in a lot of effort to 'scrape' Bs and Cs. And for those of you without sixth formers at the moment who don't realise, this year is the first of the new format linear exams in many subjects, (ie no contribution from AS and new specs) and there have been some exam board cockups. So there is a greater level of uncertainty than usual anyway. Yes, grade boundaries may be adjusted but the effects won't always affect everyone to the same extent.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 20/06/2017 15:22

OP,I'll be bloody delighted if ds gets a B and a couple of C's but you know, this is MN,everyone's kid is a genius

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 20/06/2017 15:27

It's a side effect of having exams in the summer and an academic year that starts in September.

Anyone who has hay fever will struggle each year, whether it's hot or not. I agree that it is hotter than usual at this time of year and that new exams make predictions more difficult, butwhatever time of year it is, there will always be those who are, or feel disadvantaged.

Every August, there are students who do better or worse than expected and adjust their expectations up or down. If grades are generally down, universities will have to adjust their expectations too. There may be some who end up on courses they didn't expect to and it may b turn out to be better then they thought. There may be some who change their plans completely.

Elendon · 20/06/2017 16:05

I'm invigilating too and it was extremely hot today, despite all our efforts to cool the room down beforehand. Some A level students were sitting two exams today.

The problem is the noise from the other pupils in the school during breaks in lessons and mid morning and lunch breaks.

Also air conditioning units can be noisy, especially in a large sports hall as can fans (which are a waste of time and can blow off papers anyway).

The comfort of the student is always taken into account, but equally balanced with the security of the exam. If they are well prepared, they usually just get on with it.

Elendon · 20/06/2017 16:08

PS Good luck to your son OP.

Elendon · 20/06/2017 16:10

Sorry, meant to also add that when you have a hundred plus students in a room (he may well have been in with History this morning), then it does tend to get a bit sticky even in ordinary summer weather.

SheepyFun · 20/06/2017 16:17

OP, I hope he does OK. The year above me sat their A levels in a heat wave - I remember our chemistry teacher saying that he'd measured the lab temperature as 35 degrees during the practical exam - and everyone had to wear a lab coat, enclosed shoes and goggles (given some of the chemicals, this was reasonable). That can't have been fun either....

noblegiraffe · 20/06/2017 16:20

You can apply for special consideration of 2% for bad hayfever during an exam.

Original poster

PersianCatLady · 20/06/2017 16:22

Persiancat, just ignore the pissy poster. Good luck to your ds, and come back to the results thread an let us know how he did
Thanks dingit

OP posts:

dingit · 20/06/2017 16:26

Dd is in floods of tears. c3 edexcel maths, thanks a lot

Abra1d · 20/06/2017 16:27

I'm far from wrapping my children up in cotton wool but I was relieved when my daughter told me their sports hall was air conditioned.

Those who are scoffing might like to imagine themselves trying to do two or three hours hard mental work, and perhaps physical, too, if they are essay subjects with lots to write, in temperatures of 30 degrees without fans, windows or AC.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 20/06/2017 16:33

You can apply for special consideration of 2% for bad hayfever during an exam how? I had no idea!

TheFallenMadonna · 20/06/2017 16:34

She isn't coddling her son. She's worried for him. Coddling would suggest she is taking some kind of action. She isn't. It's OK to have a little fret every now and again.

Elendon · 20/06/2017 16:40

You can apply for special consideration of 2% for bad hayfever during an exam.

It needs to be done by Xmas Yr 9 at the latest (unless it's late onset). It takes a lot of medical forms to get signed as well. The exam boards don't just give it away.

hackmum · 20/06/2017 16:41

dingit: A friend just said to me that her son did EdExcel maths today and said it was the worst paper he'd ever done. And he's a very bright kid. So you just hope it was hard for everyone.

noblegiraffe · 20/06/2017 16:41

Dame Here's the JCQ guide to the special consideration process www.jcq.org.uk/Download/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/a-guide-to-the-special-consideration-process-2016-2017

The school's exams officer would have to make any application.

Elendon · 20/06/2017 16:42

Having said all that, my son has sat in an air conditioned room because he types his exams and gets extra time too. The room does have a lot of computers and monitors.

It is blissful by all accounts in this weather.

Sparklingbrook · 20/06/2017 16:43

There's so much I would like to say (as the mother of an A level taking DS) but I won't because there's too many people with an empathy bypass on this thread.

YANBU PCL and I hope all goes well for your DS.

DS1 has his last exam on Thursday. i cannot wait for it all to be over for him.

LineyWimey · 20/06/2017 16:47

dingit DS says it was absolute bastard of a paper.

For those twats on here sniggering about 'snowflakes', I have a very strong feeling - just a feeling mind you - that you're not particularly nice. And possibly not especially clever. Or empathetic. And possibly like Piers Morgan.

dingit · 20/06/2017 16:49

You have to jump through so many hoops to get special medical consideration ( bitter experience of dds As PE last year)
Thank you for the comment about maths. According to twitter, it was horrendous.

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