Mocks. Is this not a bit too much?? Or am I being PFB??

[SmallDucks]

DS had 4 exams today,
3 exams in the hall which were between 1-1.5 hours long and then from 3.30-5pm a basket ball assessment (GCSE PE).

From 08.30am -5pm either in an exam or physically being assessed.

Tomorrow he has 1 exam but they felt today the basketball assessment was appropriate.

AIBU?

Someone in dd's school had 3 A level exams clashing this year. They did 2 on one day and then had the choice between staying at a teacher's house or their mum signing to say they wouldn't go online or confer with a friend. They chose the mum signing although I doubt there's any way of knowing whether they went online or not

15 minutes.
that gave him about enough time to get to the assessment and get changed for it.

i Agree.
I would never expect them to change an exam.

But to put the assessment at the end of three exams that does not need an invigilator, is not ok.
He could do that next week when the exams are mostly over.

For actual GCSEs there are rules for maximum times and what you have described would be against the rules, if including the basketball assessment.

@RewildingAmbridge Did you go to school in Medway in the 90s?

Only because a very similar thing happened at my school years before I went there and was told as lore. If not maybe history teachers make the best chaperones.

Yes, they are two completely different things.

My son will be ok, that was not the question.

@Ijustbluemyself no it was Essex 2002! Wonder if it was the same history teacher at a different school...

Relieved to hear they are spaced out more.
I don't remember doing more than two a day and it was over a few weeks.

It's not, it's probably bang on. I've done exam timetabling in the past. Occasionally there'll be a student who does an eclectic mix of subjects so they get 3 falling on one day on as the timetable probably caters for the other 50 kids that do 2 of the 3 scheduled for that day. Or sometimes it's about the bigger picture.

EG in one I scheduled for Y10, everyone has to do one of history or geography. In special cases a child can do both. I had 3 like that so I scheduled the HI and GG exam at the same time first thing with an RE in the afternoon (another full year one). The 3 clashing students did History then Geography (only an hour) then RE in the afternoon. It meant I could put History and Geography at the same time so I could sit a full year group into one slot.

Conversely, there are other subjects you could rarely schedule together, Music and Dance, French and German.

They are spaced out due to covid. So if you missed one exam with covid you could take the other one/s and your grade would be based on that. If they are close together you could miss all exams in a subject and get no grade. I suspect they'll be back to a normal timetable next year.

It sounds like a very average working day.

Just to ask a question (sorry OP, I hope you don't mind), but is there no facility for an aegrotat assessment in the case of illness etc?

Yes, that's a bit much. With non-public exams they tend to squeeze them in, but 4 in a day is a lot. At least they'll be over more quickly. Don't worry- it won't be like that with the real GCSEs.

I'm surprised at some of the snarky, unsympathetic responses you've had. Exams are pretty intense. Lots of kids find 2 per day pretty stressful and exhausting, never mind 4! I've spent the last few weeks invigilating A Levels and GCSES. The kids look pretty done-in now, but it's nearly over!

Yes it’s a lot

my son had 14 exams in three day…. He is 11 🙄

I’m imagining that by 16 he’ll handle that sort of timetabling magnificently but really it sounds like a lot of pressure especially if you’re not used to that sort of intensity.

I wouldn't want to sit that many exams in one day either, but the school won't want to spread the mocks out too much as that would take away more weeks of teaching.

Real GCSEs are more spaced out. For the real GCSEs, a student can have up to 5.5 hours of exams on any one day. Any more than that and one of the exams has to be moved.

But for both mocks and real exams there's an element of luck in the timetabling. Even for real GCSEs, some students' exams will be more spread out than others, depending on their option subjects.

That does sound very excessive. Our school generally does up to 2 per day and we'd avood putting similar things like English and History in back to back.

I actually think it's a good point.

You handwrite solidly against the clock for over six hours per day in silent room with dozens of other people, knowing that everything you write will be scrutinised and a judgement passed on it?

I'm pleased I don't do your job.

That is madness in my opinion! They have too many exams in my opinion!

My 15yo has done 2 GCSEs this summer and had 5 exams (in total) - he thought that was a lot! I had to explain that some DC are doing 30 exams!!

No, not snippy and unhelpful 🙄

The school don't timetable most of the exams and someone will always draw the short straw when it comes to having lots of exams on one day. It's just how it is.

DS's were scheduled as 3 exams a day for 9 days. (with only a couple of days where he had 2 where he wasn't taking the option). many subjects apparently noted that the days where their exam was scheduled last the average results were worse than other papers. Wonder why that was?

In DD's year they had a planned fire drill part way through one of the mocks. And on one day she had English Lit, History and RE i.e. all exams where you basically have to write solidly.

I think the school was trying to toughen them up so actual exams would be easy.

In the real exams if you have 3 exams in a day totalling more than 5 and a half hours, you get 2% special consideration for the last exam in acknowledgement that it's a bit shit.

It's not great, did you ask the school if it could be changed? No one would be looking at an individual student's exam schedule, just trying to fit it all in.

Actual GCSE’s would be more staggered although very common to have a couple in one day.

It’s a lot in one day, not helped by todays heat but of course they wouldn’t have known that when they wrote the timetable.

There’s no guarantees about how his GCSEs might be timetabled - especially if he has chosen an unusual combination of subjects.

It can be quite tough on DC who have injuries - DD2 ended up lying on the floor in one mock and unable to sit another due to 4 exams being crammed into one day. DC1 ended up in tears in the actual GCSE as 2 long written papers in one day - has tendonitis in the wrist of their writing hand - and was unable to complete the second. A bummer as it was English Lit which was just one written paper.
I do remember several days at A level when I had 2 3hour long essay papers which was good preparation for my university finals where I had 10 3 hour essay papers in a week starting Monday morning and finishing Friday afternoon. No one died.