to want to complain about this exam invigilationr?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

One of my children was in an A level exam today.

They started 15 minutes late.

Without announcing it, the invigilator turned the clock back at the front of the hall to the time it should have started. So turned it back from 2.15 to 2.00pm.

She did this without announcing it, I'll just say that again.

However, there was another clock in the hall telling the correct time.

My child was completely distracted by the question of what was the correct time and when would the exam actually end throughout the exam.

In the event, it ended 15 minutes before she was expecting and she missed out on answering her final question properly.

AIBU to be livid?

Coconuttelegraph, that made sense up until the OP said her DD was going by the unchanged clock, which is why we are confused as to how she would up with 15 mins less than she though, rather than 15 MORE

He did say other exams were taking place at the same time in the same hall, so could this be another clock for that?

All of the clocks should show the actual time and be synchronised.
The start and end time for each exam should be written on the board in the hall.

But none of that changes the fact that it seems to be against the rules to have changed the clock in the first place

By class action, I mean an entire group of candidates could presumably launch a joint complaint, but I've not heard of one under these circumstances.

The school can apply for special consideration for all students in the exam hall. It can and does happen for timing and other issues (a major disturbance outside the hall etc etc).

@alevelkid223, you are profoundly ignorant about the ways in which disabilities affect some people. I do see that you, personally, might not be affected. Congratulations! However, some people would be. It's not necessarily evidence of a lack of intelligence or an inability to cope with the exam. It is safe to say that A Level exams are not designed to test how students respond to a clock being tacitly changed during the exam. Therefore, this was not a fair component of the exam.

@thecanterburywhales - sorry, I'm not following. How do we know no other students were confused? And would the students themselves even know?

In my area (I teach in HE), in this situation we'd have to assume that all the students were potentially disadvantaged, whether they recognised it or not. The common thing would be a student glancing at a clock at the start of the exam, then glancing again later, and being startled at how much time had passed - but most students would, of course, simply panic that they'd mismanaged their time. Unless they (like the OP's DD) saw the clock being changed, they would probably just think the mistake was theirs. You couldn't discount the possibility that shook people up enough to lower their performance, so you'd have to think about it when you assessed them all.

I don't know the procedures for A Level, but if there really is such a thing as a 'class action' complaint, that seems rather unfair and weird to me.

YY, and what kitty said. If it is against the rules, it is not on to expect students not to worry.

Yes, Kitty, I know. (We've had fire alarms and blackouts over the years!)
I meant that where only some candidates are (presumably) disadvantaged it would be difficult.

It is surprising tbh that the invigilator who changed the clock was unaware of the regs. Or that all the invigilators were, more to the point.

Canterbury I would think that you would have to assume all were potential disadvantaged- 2 clocks showing times differing by 15 minutes- and apply for special consideration for the whole hall.

Yes the question re invigilator training is a big worry (especially if they are yet to have a visitation).

Yes, I guess so.
What a nightmare. (For the kids)

There is absolutely no question, raise it with the exam officer. The invigilator broke the rules. Clocks should show the actual time and if more than one clock in the room then they must be synchronised. Please, please raise it with the exams officer so that s/he can ensure it doesn't happen again. Your DD was disadvantaged as she was unable to manage her time properly and the exam finished 15mins before she expected it to.

I can't believe any invigilator would think it was OK to change the hands of a clock midway through an exam.

So how did she know the clock was changed if it didn't happen. Maybe the clocks were different to start with or maybe a battery was going dead so made the clock slow.

In any case speak to the exams officer at your daughter school.

I've invigilated for around 7 years and have never once changed the clock to the exam start time. Also at the start of every exam we read out the exam regulations and within them it says about raising your hand in you need to speak to an invigilator (quite sure this 'what to read out before an exam' sheet is straight out of the JCQ booklet)

I am an invigilator and this is totally unacceptable practice, you should definitely ring up the exams officer to complain and ask them to apply for special consideration.

And ignore all those saying your dd is old enough and should have asked. There are rules in place to make sure no one is disadvantaged in anyway and time confusion is a definite disadvantage.

From this year timings have to be actual time (not adjusted to make numbers easier) and all clocks accurate and the same and also be clearly visible to all candidates. Your dd was not to know the clock she was looking at had been changed.

If they refuse to do anything or brush you off, you can report them to the JCQ. Tell them you are going to do this and they should do something as they will not want to lose exam accreditation.

I have done a lot of invigilating in the past. Clocks were routinely changed , but they should all say the same time. I wasn’t aware that a new ruling had been brought in.
Your daughter should have noticed though .
I would complain. I found schools varied hugely in how efficient their invigilation staff were. Some offered no real training and Inwas horrified to see all sort of breaches of the guidelines.
Other schools were absolutely draconian in sticking to the rules.. quite rightly.

Your daughter should have noticed though

Seriously why should she have noticed? Her job was to take her A level not to keep an eye out for maladministration. Most students are so focused on their exams you could dance around the hall naked and they wouldn’t notice. Not of course that I am advocating dancing around the hall naked - whilst I can see no direct mention of it in JCQ regs my gut feeling is that it is malpractice

It is normal practice to set the clock to the exam time, rather than having finish times like 11:03 etc

Sorry if this has already been said

But no its not

Sorry mindyourlanguage has it spot on

Shouldn’t post without refreshing...doh!

And now ive read more, i agree with everyone who has said complain to the school and exam board

I think whether or not the OP's daughter noticed, or could have asked or is 'old enough not to have been confused' (?!) isn't really the issue here so much as the fact that several posters have confirmed there has been a clear breach of guidelines and the invigilator should not have altered the clock.

I'd report it OP. I'm not saying the outcome of your daughters exam will change but it needs to be noted.

Rufus you are wrong, it was common practice when I was invigilating. If the exam was supposed to start at 9 am and the exam started early or late, the clock would be set to 9am.

@tabbiemoo Every student has to read the JCQ booklet prior to taking these exams, so I disagree with you, sounds like her DD did not bother reading the booklet either. At the end of the day regardless of the clock, she still had the correct amount of time to complete her exam.

Yes I think OP should raise an issue, but if no one else in her exam hall does, I think that will speak volumes.

Not to put a damper on things but anything she gets by special consideration will be negligible. If she has an ordinary watch I'd take that in with her for the next exam and work from that.

Where do you get that from iron ? Another fact being stated on here that I have never heard of... there are notices on doors about regulations pertaining TO the students. Changing the clocks would not be something that is a regulation students need to abide to. Students are not required to read invigilator booklets!

By the way, my school has had special consideration applied to a whole room of students before after two complaints from the room.

I'm an invigilator and we would never do this. All clocks should show the same time. All students must hand in watches. The time written on the board should clearly reflect the time shown in the clock. Exams can and do start after the published time for many reasons but students should be given the correct time allocated on the paper unless they are eligible for extra time. Yes, you should make the head of exams aware so they can investigate and if appropriate can write to the exam board on behalf of all students in this exam. Anyone in doubt of the rules should look up the JCQ regulations!