To question private/indep schools 'extra time' in exams

[Mama2many73]

30% of pupils were given extra time to complete their gcse/alevels. This should be down to have additional needs (of varying types)

"More than two in five (41.8%) of all candidates in independent centres – of which the majority are private schools – were granted 25% extra time in their exams in 2023/24, compared with 26.5% in non-selective state schools"

Call me a cynic but I m calling that out as BS. that just under ½ of their kids need extra time but only a ¼ state school kids do!?

Both my DH and myself were teachers, he is now a HT and we know how hard it is to get a judgement. As foster carers we have fought for several kids to try and get them better chances in their exams. Kids with suspected adhd/asd, poor working memory, OT fine motor skills issues, major trauma..... I could go on and they have never passed the threshold despite us and the school trying their best.

Chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham sid he was 'surprised' by the data and it is now being investigated?!

I await their findings. I think some schools may be in trouble!

Edited for spellings

I think that 26.5% in state schools is also BS

I’m assuming it will partly because private school parents are more likely to pay to get their child tested for issues rather than wait in the horribly long queue for NHS testing.

Add to that the fact teachers have more time with pupils so more likely to flag issues, plus less likely to have parents who aren’t engaged with schooling. And the fact lots seek out private school when state couldn’t provide for their SEN children.

All adds up to higher numbers with help.

This

A lot of SEN pupils end up in private schools as state education cannot cater for their needs, so the numbers are further disproportionate.

Yes, absolutely this. Dd was really struggling till I paid for a private assessment and now gets all the support she needs. But it shouldn't work like that .

A lot of children in state schools also get extra time to - if there was better diagnosis in the state sector there would probably be comparable numbers.

Home educated children sit their exams privately either at an exam centre or local private school and a large % of home ed children have SEN.

I don't think it's very surprising given that for a large proportion of families who are in the income bracket of "comfortable enough" without being seriously wealthy, having a child with additional needs such as dyslexia or neurodiversity issues is highly likely to trigger seeking private education rather than relying on the massively over-stretched and under-resourced SEN facilities in a typical state school. Whereas for a family with no such additional needs in the same income brackets the impetus towards private education would be far lower and they would be happy enough with state education and spending their money on holidays, cars and other luxuries instead. Therefore it would be entirely to be expected that the SEN proportion within the private sector would be higher than in the state sector from that factor alone. Add to that, the fact that numerous SEN schools, some of which do offer GCSEs, are counted as private sector although their fees are often paid for from LEA budgets.

We had to put our son in private school due to issues in state. He's diagnosed and had extra time.

I don't find those stats even remotely surprising as lots of his peers also struggled with main stream schools and were moved to private get smaller class sizes and a more bespoke education.

It's yet another aspect of private schools that isn't understood that they are full of kids struggling whose parents are doing everything financially to support them.

I'm not sure why it's a relevant comparison though? If it reaches across the board beyond 35-40% then a review of time given in all exams in all schools in would be warranted.

JCQ updates this year looked like they were moving to tighten up on this, favouring rest breaks over extra time.

Not bullshit just money.

My kids are in the independent sector. In Y2 every child is screened for Dyslexia by the school. If indicators are there school chat to you. If you pay for school fees finding £900 for an Ed Psych report is not a challenge.

The rules on extra time are the same for all schools. The rules for having a reader are much more stringent than for extra time, and the rules for a scribe have been tightened since most students now know how to use a laptop. I know of at least one independent school that would not accept the results needed for examination access arrangements from their internal assessor. They paid for an external assessor who was prepared to artificially lower the scores so that more students qualified for examination access arrangements. Risky business.

JCQ have always favoured rest breaks over extra time. It’s unfair on students who genuinely need that time to write/type and check their answers.

I don’t see why exams have to have a time limit at all - it’s meant to test knowledge not how quickly you can write it down. Exams could just be a guideline time with access to leave quietly after a minimum time period / at half hour intervals (to not be too disruptive).

A diagnosis of dyslexia does not qualify a student for access arrangements. Every student in every school has to be tested within the two years before GCSEs and some dyslexic students don’t qualify for a reader, although most will qualify for 25% extra time.

Agree, I had a scholarship to a pretty good independent school and was there a few years doing well in most subjects but inexplicably results were quite mediocre in others. One of the teachers suggested that given the pattern of errors I was making, (I won't bore with details) this might be dyslexia, so they arranged an assessment by an educational psychologist within a few weeks and the report was back a couple of weeks after that showing that was indeed the case. I was tested again as an adult, before my professional exams, with the same result. It might not have been picked up in many settings because by any measure I was doing quite well already. But as you say, smaller class sizes, and a willingness to fund the relevant tests directly if a student needs them certainly help.

Totally agree 26.5% in state sector is BS. One in four kids … really?

Also think indie is BS. Indie should be c25% max and state 10-15%, mostly because people DO move their kids into private because of additional needs.

Biggest driver of non-need is parents seeing other people have extra time and then demanding it themselves so their kid doesn’t lose out. anxiety seems to be the biggest reason around here.

tbf though, if I thought it would buy me some time for a better grade I’d tell everyone I had anxiety too.

Honestly this generation is utterly stuffed, all the expect is exemption after exemption .

I'm not surprised by the data. A lot of parents of children with special needs feel that the smaller more individualised environment an indie can provide will help their kids and will find a way to manage the fees if they possibly can. Obviously not everyone can but some families can manage it by compromising their lifestyles.

Now that’s a radical (good) idea. I suppose though that some candidates would just drone on for ages creating volume not quantity

Have to say I did find the 40% a pretty startling figure. I don’t think it can be accounted for by higher actual SEND incidence as the national proportion of pupils in independent schools is still relatively low, and the identified SEND rate between state and Indy is not actually that different.

i do know lots of disadvantaged state school pupils whose dyslexia, DCS, Autism, ADHD , etc been ‘discovered’ until further or higher education. Those were the ‘lucky’ ones who didn’t just drop out at 16!

Anxiety = rest breaks and a smaller room, not extra time.
Students with a diagnosis of autism automatically get extra time.
Students with a diagnosis of dyslexia do not automatically get extra time at school, although they do at university.
The rules are incredibly strict. Most assessors would not risk their practising certificate by artificially lowering the scores on the tests for extra time/a reader.

We aren’t at GCSE yet by for the 11+ you literally have to do a left eye tear and quiver slightly and you get extra time at our school. It’s ridiculous.

also reminds me these numbers are averages… so some schools could have much higher???

11+ must be different. It’s quite the battle to get any access arrangements for SATs unless the child has an EHCP.

Private school parents will pay for their children to get assessed. Some children will genuinely meet the criteria. Other children will not, but the assessor will stretch the issues the child faces so they do meet the criteria. There are some private assessors where you get what you pay for.

This makes sense, I’ve heard people sharing the same name.

i also wonder if it’s assessors way of justifying their high fees. They get paid a lot, kid gets extra time, parent happy and makes referral, school gets kid into the secondary if choice. Winning all around.

A dyslexia assessment report cannot be used for examination access arrangements. It used to be the case, but not for many years now.