Is this a loophole in private schools?

[namechangetoinvestigate]

Posting here for discussion.

I know a boy at a top private school in Edinburgh who currently has 25% extra time in written exams for slow handwriting. He's a normal academic achieving boy with no learning difficulties. The school has advised the parents that they are going to apply for extra time next year for all his exams, not just written exams.

It made me wonder, is it one of the reasons private schools are getting better results because normal academic achieving kids are getting awarded 25% extra time? That's a big advantage.

I know there's a lot of pressure for private schools to get the grades and wondering if this might be a loop hole they take advantage of, are private schools given privilege when applying for extra time in exams?

The child is in my extended family, so I know there's no other learning difficulties. This doesn't sit right with my conscience.

My daughter gets extra time for dyslexia.
However, basically my understanding is that the current funding position of most state school is so dire that most will not now pay to officially test pupils for dyslexia. They may provide support like coloured overlays if they suspect dyslexia but will not pay the cost of testing.
We paid privately and got the official diagnosis and a document stating she should be given extra time.
Based upon the fact that private school parents can afford the school fees it's very likely they can and will pay for any private diagnosis that helps their child. Whilst I don't believe children are misdiagnosed by private doctors I sometimes think their threshold for issuing a diagnosis is lower if they are being paid quite significant fees for it. For example a friend's daughter was assessed for ASD by the NHS but rightly or wrongly the diagnosis was no ASD. They then paid privately for an assessment and were given a diagnosis for ASD.

So why do you think this has anything to do with it being a private school? Have you not thought children in standard schools can also apply?

This happened to me at school. I am left handed, never learnt to write correctly and am extremely slow at writing. It really affected me. I would always be desperately scribbling away till the last second in exams. I went into sciences because I achieved better grades in those subjects partly because there was less writing involved. I still found it hard.
It annoyed the hell out of me a lot of friends got extra time for supposed dyslexia ( in my final year of uni my whole group of Friends near enough were tested for it and all got extra time which makes me cynical) Because I didn’t have a box ticking problem I didn’t.
I always got better marks in my coursework than my exams.
I also always struggled to write notes from the board in class.
If I had got extra time my life might have
Taken a different path.

So I think it’s great that this is happening.

YABVU & no, it won't be a factor at all.

The lad will have some additional SEN that you know nothing about & that will be the cause of his slow handwriting.

My daughter (stare school) also gets 25% extra for slow handwriting & processing. She's also very bright, but she isn't able to teach her full potential due to invisible medical problems that cause pain in her hands, arms etc & that pain makes it difficult for her to think straight.

My ds was given extra time because he was slow at writing in year 6 for sats. The school were aware that he would never be able to write as quickly as the rest of the class even though he is bright so he was assessed and given the extra time. Really don't see the problem unless you would be happy to see children fail simply because they cannot write at a fast rate

Sorry forgot to mention state primary school

The issue is that many state schools just do not have the resources to act upon manifestations of Specific Learning Difficulties in children who are bright enough to have developed coping strategies and do better than average, if not performing to their full potential. It is partly ignorance, that SpLDs occur in 10%of the population regardless of ability, but mainly that they have to focus ever depleting resources on those most obviously affected, and failing. Our Council is currently highlighting the impact this has had in our local state schools and how far short they are falling in SEN provision for even the most severely affected, as a result of funding cuts, and our Councils was one of the better ones for special needs provision .

On the other hand the most selective private schools have specialist units and are uncovering the 10% of pupils who have SpLDs, although ironically locally some of the private schools with ambitions to climb the league tables actively exclude pupils with SpLDs . Westminster for instance has state of the art support, and actively welcomes bright pupils with an SpLD. Exams for these schools are designed to test ability over attainment with questions that target logic and reasoning and can identify when there is obvious ability but also the obvious signs of SpLDs, missing questions, misreading questions, silly mistakes, not finishing papers, and will value the ability to reason over accuracy.

When Grammar Schools used VR and NVR based selection tests that too made it easier for bright children with SpLDs to show their ability, (those tests became tutorable but if you had the raw ability it would still manifest itself). I'm not sure if that has reversed with the tests of Maths and English that have been introduced. As someone who got into a superselective but then was deemed lazy / dreamy because they simply did not get why I couldn't translate my ability to paper it hasn't always been a good thing....

I met loads of private school kids at university who had extra time in exams for various reasons. I expect state schools have access to the same concessions but private schools more likely to have the time and resources to push for them.

I work in an indie and yes, a lot of our students do get extra time, scribes, readers and lap tops to use in the exams. The reason is really ever so simple. A significant number of our pupils have one form or another of SEN. Often the SEN wasn’t bad enough to be picked up thoroughly in a previous state school or to have much intervention delivered to help the pupil due to the falling budgets state schools receive.

Parents bring their child to us, and with our small classes, we are quickly able to build up an evidence bank of the needs the pupil has and we can put interventions in place which does include extra time - obviously this has to be tested for.

The number of pupils who have come to us because they were in big classes and relatively OK compared to other pupils at the more extreme end of SEN is significant. If they are “only” dyslexic often there would be limited help given. It is a bad situation but with tighter budgets state schools aren’t able to accommodate all the needs of all the pupils. This is why there are more kids receiving extra time in private schools - the state system can’t cope.

Ds has possible ASD. He also has lax finger joints, hand pain and poor handwriting. He has been assessed by an OT. She has recommended he uses a laptop for all written work and exams (although persuading him that's a good idea is an story). He is not entitled to extra time though. He sat a DASH test and scored on the 24th percentile. I think he would have needed to score 16th or below to be entitled to extra time. A child's handwriting has to be really quite impaired to qualify.

I work in an independent school. My year 9 class this year had 6 diagnosed dyslexic students and at least 2 others who were on their way to being diagnosed. The statistic is something like one in 10 of us is dyslexic and the class had 20 students. I suspect it is the case that parents who have concerns about their children and SEN do whatever they can to send them private following unsatisfactory responses in the state sector and this then shifts the statistics.

My DS has good learning skills except handwriting speed (lowest 5%) He didn't get extra time in exams but his school has applied for them for sixth form because there are so many essays to write (Humanities subjects) Without extra time, his slow writing would mask how capable he is in other areas. He is at private school, but I tutor loads of state school GCSE students who have extra time. It's not a perk exclusive to the independent sector.

I think private schools are better equipped to identify issues due to smaller classes and less pressures. They will also have very proactive parents paying their wages.

My state educated dd has the extra time as she is chronically dyspraxic. I was previously a teacher and knew she was quite early on. Her primary school was useless. I took her to the gp who then referred her to a consultant who got her OT and gave a report. I did loads with her at home. She wasn't a priority at school as she is bright and I did the catch up. I wanted a diagnosis before secondary so she'd have everything in place. I know others in the state system getting a diagnosis in year 10 which is too late.

Private parents to do what I did. The state system critics parents like me and accuses us of having pointy elbows.

pay others

The thing is private schools surely can't lie about things like a DASH test. Ds's OT apologised and said I have to report the results, which means he won't get extra time. Not sure how having money or pushy parents can change the score on a test. Surely you either qualify or you don't. Ds's possible ASD means that he gets overwhelmed very quickly, unfortunately I don't think that allows him any extra help in exams. He won't reach his full potential, we know that but hopefully things won't be too bad.

Ds is year 10, he should have been assessed years ago. He has been let down in the state system. He goes into year 11 still waiting for a diagnosis.

Money can’t change test scores but it does mean you can afford the tests in the first place. Children can also be supported to fail; the tests aren’t pure.
Independent schools are also far, far more likely to request reviews of marking. It’s because they can afford to do so.

Its a standardised test OP. You don’t need to be in any particular school, you find a registered Ed Psych and apply for the relevant national standardised assessment. I think slow handwriting is evidence of slower “speed processing?” If the score is under 84, they are eligible for extra time, simple as that. In more extreme cases, the Ed Psych can recommend that the pupil does the test on a computer, or has access to a scribe.

Many children are not formally diagnosed as “dyspraxic”, yet may still be on say, the 99th centile for cognitive ability, but only on the 10th for speed processing.

Maybe independent schools are more likely to notice children with “spiky” educational profiles and ask parents to have them assessed? And obviously there is the cost of the assessment itself. But in theory, the same assessment is available to anyone and may throw up a host if reasons why your child may qualify for special arrangements.