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?

Surely children weren't coming into school with covid, or only for a day or two before they tested?

There were lots of students not testing. We had lots of kids off school for 2-3 days with covid symptoms.

I'm glad some people are finally realising how risky schools have been for staff and students.

There are lots of things that can be done. There is more than there used to be but even in my day, and I did O Levels, some students could sit exams in a different room.

Schools can also apply for exams to be taken at a different time, this is usually when there is a clash but can be for other reasons, I seem to remember someone taking an exam starting at 6am before heading off to a international sports event.

I have taken university exams on my own because I was using dictation software.

The current legal situation is that testing is no longer advised, and even if you know you are positive you don't have to isolate. That is in every day life. So why would teenager exams would be any different?

The logical solution is for high risk pupils to sit the exam in a separate room, not to reimpose restrictions that have no health benefit for the vast majority and are hugely detrimental in other ways.

If the school is refusing to allow your vulnerable child to sit their exams separately, that is the legally questionable bit.

In any case lateral flow tests are only able to detect about 60% of cases. They are not going to prevent its spread. As evidenced by huge epidemics in schools despite frequent testing.

Every year there are some children who sit exams in smaller groups in classrooms. This might be for health reasons, they wcw qualify for extra time or because big exam halls make them too anxious.
It's not a new thing, you are showing your ignorance!

This makes no sense. Surely a couple of hours at a spaced desk during an exam is not as bad as spending "close quarters" with students every day in a normal school environment.