ADHD and extra time in exams

[VivienScott]

Hi All,

I’m hoping for help/advice. My son was diagnosed with ADHD last year. I had the full educational psychologist and psychiatrist report done which lays out the diagnosis, how it’s likely to affect him and what support he should have at school. I sent this to his school and although they put together a “passport” for him and his teachers there have been a number of issues with teachers not reading it, telling him off for fidgeting despite it being a symptom etc. I’ve had to speak to the school a number of times about it and it’s clear it’s not been communicated very well.
His ADHD report clearly states he should be given extra time in exams. However, the school are now saying that the decision to grant extra time is down to them to recommend to the exam board and a psychiatrist report has no influence here, nothing I can do etc.
Any plans experience or thoughts? I know ADHD is a recognised disability so it feels like an unusual approach.
AIBU for thinking the school are being very odd here?

I feel like I am spending my life battling DC school regarding ADHD and getting proper support in place. It is a nightmare and I end up in tears every day.
mine does get the extra time, but they don’t like giving her movement breaks. It’s a constant battle.
sorry this isn’t much help. I just wanted to say you aren’t alone. X

Re: the extra time, it had to be his normal way of working in the classroom. If he does not normally require extra time in class, he can't be awarded it for exams.

Supervised rest breaks (movement breaks as mentioned above) can also be useful, as could a promoter. These should all be allowed provided they are your son's normal way of working

So the school is actually correct. It is their recommendation that will start the process, as opposed to a diagnostic report

Yes it is down to the school to request extra time from the exam board, and put together the evidence that it is the students “normal way of working” based on observations from teachers. However with something like this in the Ed psych report it should be a no brainer that they should have been collecting the evidence and making the request. I don’t deal with the applications to the exam board so I don’t know if the Ed psych report itself can be given as part of the evidence but it should certainly be the catalyst for collecting evidence from his teachers. Is he in year 11? If so, it is probably too late for them to apply now. I teach in FE and see students every year who come to us having not fulfilled their potential at GCSE because some schools haven’t applied for exam concessions - remember exam concessions doesn’t just mean extra time, could also be a small room, rest breaks, a promoter. I don’t really know why schools don’t always do these assessments and applications when they should - surely anything that improves students GCSE grades benefits them too!!

nothing odd or unusual, this is the uk exams policy - the school reports usual way of working to the exam board. Diagnosis, psychiatrists report etc, all totally irrelevant.

Two children could have identical ADHD, and one has a diagnosis, and a Psychiatrist report, and one doesn't, they both get treated exactly the same by the exam board, who refer ONLY to the usual way of working ,reported by the school

This is particularly important in the case of a child with ADHD with a parent who also has ADHD, as the child may well suffer significant disadvantages, with parents more likely to be unemployed, in prison, divorced, etc and much less able to provide a diagnosis and psychiatrists report.

Therefore, the worse ADHD is in a family, the less likely a child is to have "paperwork" related to their ADHD, so in education, and in exams, it is very important that children without the paperwork are given the same support as children with it

As others have said the school need to demonstrate the normal way of working. My son gets extra time and a scribe which was applied for by the school. They do it for all assessments and longer writing pieces and it has got approved. He had no diagnosis but did have a OT assessment which showed the need. This is being handed over with him when he goes to secondary to help the new school when they assess him. His case was helped by the difference in achievement for now writing tasks over written tasks

Yes the school will run tests. These were done for my daughter in spring of Y11, and before that they had built evidence by giving her extra time in trial exams and a change of pen colour. So it was well established as her normal way of working.

If you're confident he needs it then the tests will show that, just like the independent tests no doubt did. It's really important that school do everything right to secure the extra time and this means building the evidence and putting the case together themselves.

Extra time in exams can only be granted if this is part of a child's normal and regular classroom practice i.e. they often are unable to finish the task to the appropriate level during the lesson itself and they need extra time taken from elsewhere to enable them to finish.

The school has to apply to the STA and it will either be granted or not. If they grant extra time, you also need to be able to show a bank of evidence to justify the extra time if/when you are visited by someone from the local authority. If you are unable to do so, or the evidence is insufficient, then it will be considered maladministration and the results of the child's exams are likely to be voided.

People put things like "extra time" on reports because they know that it doesn't actually mean anything (carried no weight by itself) and they don't have to back it up as the decision and responsibility is not theirs.

If you discuss the steps needed with your learning support team at school…with our school they have an external assessor come in each year then those kids needing extra support for whatever reason do some tests with the external person and if they score at a particular level on these tests they are entitled to exam concessions…we have a separate room ,a reading pen and extra time for our adhd yr 10. I hear you about the challenges of communicating with all your child’s teachers ,consistency is a challenge and trying to equip your son with the skills to ask/remind teachers for what he needs is helpful.

As someone who knows a lot about ADHD and who has spent years invigilating and scribing, don’t force extra time on them if they wouldn’t normally use it!
ive seen 100+ kids sit there with extra time and not use it. An ADHD kid is not going to just do a bit extra in an exam because they have more time.
All you are doing to the kid is extending the “pain” they are going through!

My dd doesn't have ADHD or any other diagnosis. Her school organised an assessment (not sure who by) - testing reading, writing speeds etc and she was awarded 50% extra time, a reader and scribe. This arrangement was honoured when she moved to college.

PS They have to have it in place by start of year 10, I think.

I'm also a teacher and have another child with ADHD and agree with a PP that most ADHD kids are unable to use the extra time. The typical pattern is to rush through the questions, find it impossible to check or improve and finish too early. That's what my ADHD child did. Finally passed English for the 3rd time and came home from the exams to tell me they had actually used their extra time for once!!!

He would need a specific deficit that means he needs more time. In my experience many ADHD kids actually finish their exams faster - they rush through them and are done. We don't give accommodations for extra time just because they have a diagnosis. They might get breaks or the use of noise cancelling headphones or a private low distraction room or typing answers rather than writing etc but extra time would mean they have a disability in the speed at which they can read and process information.

Passed on 3rd attempt, not for 3rd time!

Basically it's up to the school to sort out and that includes compiling evidence to send to the board. So, basically the onus is on the teacher. If you happen to get an apathetic teacher they won't do it and they won't get extra time.

We had the same issue, extra time in a couple of subjects he didn't need extra time in and not in the important one that he did need the time. A solicitors letter worked in the end.

extra time is not subject specific, and does not depend on any subject teacher - it can't can it, many children dont have teachers in all subjects

solicitors letter wont make one iota of difference, either.

JCQ updated their policy this year and the SENDCo has to confirm they have explored other avenues such as supervised rest breaks before considering extra time.

PP are correct in relation to schools having to prove an exam provision is the student's 'normal way of working' be that rest breaks or extra time.

If the SENDCo feels extra time is the right way forward (based on evidence from teachers) they will arrange for the student to be assessed. The assessor will make their recommendations via a Form 8 and this is submitted to the exam board for them to approve or decline.

It is subject specific and it does depend on individual evidence from each teacher. We've been through it for GCSE and A level. DS didn't have extra time for all subjects in GCSE (which was the issue).

Extra time is definitely not subject specific. Your school may have applied it that way but they were wrong.

When an application for extra time is submitted, it is submitted against the applicant not against the examinations they are sitting. This means that if the application is approved it is applied to all exams.

You are wrong. The school submits evidence for each subject and then the exam board grants the submission based in the evidence submitted if the criteria has been met.
I’ve been through it with an educational law solicitor as DS did not get the extra time he needed in one of the subjects for GCSE.

This is not our experience. DD only started trialling extra time at the end of Y10 and was tested in Feb of Y11. It would have been better to have it in place earlier though.

Interesting update about the rest breaks @Ralphschocolate. I guess this makes it harder/means it'll take longer for the school to built the evidence.

I'm in Scotland so it may be different. DS1 has an adhd diagnosis and gets extra time in all subjects. However, the school did assess whether he needed it or not. He has also been assessed as needing to use a computer in some exams but not all.
I'm confident that he will get what he needs.

I do agree that it’s important to consider whether a student will make use of any extra time granted. There’s no point if they finish earlier than the stated end of the exam and have either checked their answers or don’t wish to go over the paper.

I think that rest breaks can be of benefit for some and anything that is the normal way of working and can be evidenced.