AIBU that the government policies are unlawful with GCSE and A Level exams this year?

[22examsquestion]

NC as I realise this could be picked up and for once would like a rigorous debate.

‘Today the government policies were shown to be unlawful as documents failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from non-symptomatic transmission of covid.’
This was in relation to carehomes.

Next month hundreds of thousands of children will be in exam halls doing GCSE and A Level exams. Some of the children will be extremely medically vulnerable or medically vulnerable.

The government have said children taking exams are not to take a lateral flow test unless told to by a health professional. They are supposed to take exams, untested, with coughs, sore throats etc and should only not go in if they have a high temperature.

If they do get the go-ahead by a doctor to test and are covid positive, they are to go back to exam halls after 3 days, even if still positive on tests.

In the local large comp, the exam hall will have various combinations of years doing different exams. There are at least half a dozen medically vulnerable children (on chemo/severe asthma/neurological conditions etc) in my child’s year. Then there’s the invigilators who are mostly elderly ex teachers etc.

How can this be lawful of the government to impose an exam policy that results in medically vulnerable children sitting exams with knowingly covid-positive children (plus symptomatic yet untested children), if todays ruling for vulnerable adults was unlawful?

Any lawyers care to comment?

I agree the scenario you outline would be unlawful, but it may not be what happens?

I would expect that the medically vulnerable children would be in a different or their own exam hall similar to how SEN children often are. (Two of my DC have SEN)

There has always been provision for alternative exam sitting arrangements, DS had them last year for GCSEs but didn't need them. So anyone as at risk as you state can apply to sit their exams somewhere safe with appropriate invigilation.

Covid has nothing to do with this, this had always been the case.

I mean, you’re not wrong, but an exam hall is no more risky than the classrooms and school environment they’ve been in for the last year or so. In fact substantially less so as at least they’re spread out, in a large airy room etc. They can also choose to wear a mask (as can invigilators).

CEV children could sit the exam in a separate room with an invigilator who has done a LFT. Problem solved. Our kids have had a massive load of educational disruption. Most are not CEV so let them get back to normal.

Children with medical needs usually have access arrangements in place for their issue.

Vulnerability to illness (from Covid or otherwise), just like special learning needs for a variety of other reasons, can be accommodated fairly easily.

Almost as standard, schools will have small and separate exam rooms set up for children with readers, scribes, bilingual dictionaries, extra time for processing disorders, rest breaks etc.

That is not a helpful response. Please ask MN to delete it. There is no need for personal attacks which bring nothing to the discussion.

The problem I can see is that there couldn’t be enough invigilators or space to separate vulnerable children off from the ill.

Also the stress of sitting next to someone who is covid positive knowing that the exam results could affect where/if you are going to university. And that you may be ill for the exams in the next week so the one you are doing really matters. That’s where the legalities could be interesting too.

Yeah, right, good luck with that.

So can we add to this legal argument that it's been unlawful for teachers to go back into rooms full of lurgy-filled teenagers for the past two years?

Thought not....

Totally this ⬆️⬆️⬆️

2 years ago the elderly and (by the very nature of their being in a care home) vulnerable residents in care homes, and their carers, were not vaccinated. At all. It was March, and care homes were likely to be well-heated, largely unventilated and residents were in a very small bubble with others who didn't have access to testing. At all.

2 years later, many, many of our exam-ready children and young adults (and their carers, their teachers etc) will have been double vaccinated, will possibly have had covid themselves and will be in really large halls with really high ceilings that can be fairly easily ventilated (draughty sports hall in December despite heating = gaps to let in cold air).

There are a tiny minority of clinically vulnerable students about to take exams, and many will already have adjustments in place that will facilitate smaller rooms, smaller groups etc.

It's not comparable.

Kids have been in school all year. They've had mock exams in halls.

This isn't a battle you will win.

The problem I can see is that there couldn’t be enough invigilators or space to separate vulnerable children off from the ill.

There is a huge shortage of invigilators- you could volunteer to be one to help out if you like. However, they would not seperate vulnerable “from the ill” but from everyone else by placing them in their own space. Either alone or with other vulnerable children (who would obviously not be ill). They simply would have to do it as they do with SEN children.

The problem I can see is that there couldn’t be enough invigilators or space to separate vulnerable children off from the ill.

I'm a teacher and also an exam invigilator. The students do their exams in a huge airy hall. They have to also have multiple classrooms available for students with additional needs of various kinds. They have to have sufficient invigilators to staff this. I don't see why they couldn't put the few students who might be especially covid-vulnerable in a room with fewer kid. But they have to be well spaced apart even in the exam hall tbh.

Also, as other posters have pointed out, how is this any more dangerous than them being crammed into classrooms of 30-odd kids all year? Sounds like scaremongering to me.

Also agree with this.

This is ridiculous!

Vaccinations have reduced the risk of serious illness and children had a much lower risk to begin with, even those with underlying health conditions so I think you're over worrying rather, however, that doesn't necessarily mean the exam policy won't be a disaster. A lot of children have nevertheless felt quite unwell with covid and often for considerably longer than 3 days so I fear a lot more exams could be blighted by underperformance or missed altogether than in normal years if covid is still spreading at similar rates as now. There seems to be no consideration of this or the fact that children taking the exams this year have faced very differing levels of disruption over their two GCSE years, including periods of home learning and subject teachers off with illness. I think this year's cohort is getting a rum deal and many will end up achieving well below their potential as a result.

Friends dd did all her GCSEs in a classroom with a small group and appropriate invigilators due to anxiety/mh. I’m pretty sure it’s not behind the wit of schools to provide the same sort of arrangement for physically vulnerable. There is generally loads of space in exam halls and most of the kids will have been crammed in much more tightly since whenever the last lockdown was.

Schools are supposed to hire enough invigilators to cover all the specific arrangements they might need including for children in separate rooms so I'm not sure why you think Gov policy is wrong

In previous years, vulnerable children would have been sitting these exams in similar situations with no special measures in place. Other students could have had numerous illnesses and infections which would have been much more harmful to vulnerable children - that is nothing new.

The children deserve to sit these exams- those doing A levels missed their GCSEs sue to covid. What is your solution OP? And your solution for next year. ... And the year after....

Schools are supposed to hire enough invigilators to cover all the specific arrangements they might need

Which is why this is a problem: www.mumsnet.com/talk/coronavirus/4535460-schools-desperately-short-of-exam-invigilators 

And as others have said - risk from being in close proximity to loads of kids in small classrooms and corridors vs being in a large airy sports hall at least 1.5 metres from other kids. Just which do you think is more risky?

This is the current advice for all children, not just those sitting exams. So they are sitting in classrooms, cinemas, buses etc in closer proximity than an exam hall on a daily basis. In between exams they are in classrooms doing extra revision sessions in small groups.

For heaven's sake. Cut it out

What has been shit over the past two years is that those CEV kids who you are now worried about being in exam halls have been told to attend school during a pandemic, crammed into poorly ventilated classrooms even well before vaccinations, or risk being fined for non-attendance.