GCSE ranking for disabled students.

[DrManhattan]

Sorry another GCSE one.
My son has a disability and he has been ranked against his whole year group. He will come out at the lower end because of his disability. AIBU in thinking this is unfair.
Its burning my head out thinking about it.
Yes - You are unreasonable he should be ranked like everyone else
NO - he should be assessed on his own merits .

Please let me know what you think. No offense taken xx

My dd left school many years ago now but he had SN and dispite the senco knowing this and he having a learning statement in class he was not given his extra time or laptop but in mocks and exams he was. He always did between 1 and 2 grades higher in mocks and exams than in classroom. If your child has been assessed when he does not have extra time or use of lap top you could ask for appeal. In any case child should be able to have exams in October.

@MitziK Depends where you work and how they are handling it. Our school are giving out CAGs and rank if SAR is received. Then a complaint can be made, but not an official appeal to the exam board. Ofqual are clear that CAGs can't be changed because a student disagrees (nor should they be). Our SLT have been very clear with parents and they don't expect to change anything apart from glaring administration errors.

But yes of course you are completely right

Also in OPs case, on what grounds could she appeal?

@olivo

He got lower than his predicted grades and his mocks.

Predicted grades aren't that simple. They aren't done on any national directive but schools make their own system.

Mocks again are different.

My ds did full mocks of the 2019 paper on exam conditions and his grades were based on that marking scheme.

Some schools create their own.

Some use questions from various previous papers.

The question that needs answering is "when he took assessed work in school was he given his exam concessions?"

[quote Hercwasonaroll]@MitziK Depends where you work and how they are handling it. Our school are giving out CAGs and rank if SAR is received. Then a complaint can be made, but not an official appeal to the exam board. Ofqual are clear that CAGs can't be changed because a student disagrees (nor should they be). Our SLT have been very clear with parents and they don't expect to change anything apart from glaring administration errors.

But yes of course you are completely right [/quote]
How do you know if there's been a glaring administrative error if nobody looks at it first? By inviting the student to start the process.

Perhaps we're talking a little at cross purposes? We've streamlined it, so starting with the CAG and SAR gets everything checked and then we'll automatically submit an appeal if something comes up that falls within the remit for appeals. So we're not differentiating between the two, as they both start in exactly the same way - checking what's there is correct. And phrasing it as starting the process sounds better/kinder/less confrontational than 'You've got to make a complaint' and then 'You've got to make an appeal now'.

After all, seeing what the circumstances are behind this entire cohort's results, it really doesn't hurt to speak to people nicely, rather than effectively bristling at the very suggestion there might have been an error made.

Ranking may have occurred for his school predicted grade but this should only have been based on past academic performance, not disability.

Exam access arrangements are supposed to reflect the candidates normal way of working e.g. Candidates who are eligible for extra time in an exam should be allowed extra time for tasks in class. Therefore the teachers should be able to fairly assess the grade the candidate is working at and rank with the other candidates.