GCSE exam finished early. What can I do?

[CAMHShelp]

DDs GCSE exam was 1 hour and 45 mins. The invigilator asked the kids if they had finished to which DD replied yes, as she had answered all the questions (ASD) but planned to use remain 20 mins to check answers. They immediately took the paper away and ended the exam early as she was the last one to stop writing.
I have made a complaint to the school but they are being dismissive and fobbing me off.
What can I do?

Does she get extra time?

A complaint in writing to the school examinations officer asap.

There's nothing you can do now to impact the paper already done. But going forward, tell her to always say no

Yes definitely complain, the alloted time slot wasn't over and it's not reasonably to put any kid under pressure to leave before they have to, especially one with ASD.

Obviously tell her she shouldn’t say she’s finished until she’s actually ready for the paper to be taken away and end the exam.

However I don’t think there is a lot you can do now, she said she was finished. If you are checking or planning on checking answers you are not finished and should say No.

I think that exceptional circumstances can be applied so that the the person marking the paper is told that the candidate wasn't given the full allocation of time and didn't check their answers. I know they barely add much on for this, something like uplifting the mark by 6% or something, which won't necessarily get you into the next grade boundary.

Even so, I would officially complain to stop that particular invigilator repeating it in other exams.

No experience of this, but are invigilators allowed to do this? Surely they have to wait till the end of the exam unless everyone has handed their papers in and left, rather than interrupting them to ask if they have finished?

I think you should complain and ask the school to make a formal report to the examiners and a request that your child at least be given special consideration.

A good point there, they shouldn't be interrupting at all, unless they spot an infringement of the rules. Otherwise they're breaking concentration. I frequently put my pen down to think back in the day, and wouldn't have appreciated being interrupted by someone who just wanted to knack off early from their job.

No they’re not allowed to do this. I invigilate and I’m amazed at some of the things I read on here ( and other forums). They are so strict at the schools I work at and we have loads of training.

I don’t think the invigilator should have asked.

I presume your daughter gets extra time due to being autistic. At my child’s school, a child having extra time can finish and give paper in at any time after the extra time has started, but to do that they have to raise their hand and tell the invigilator they have finished. The invigilator never asks.

I can imagine some autistic children would feel put on the spot and wouldn’t be able to advocate for themselves in this situation which is why invigilators should not be asking, and instead waiting for students to communicate to them that they have finished.

I would ask the school what next steps are to get it raised with the exam board for special consideration. I would also want reassurance that invigilators will be spoken to and will not be doing this in the future.

Was your dd in a room where some candidates were taking papers that were 1 hour 10 mins long and she had 1 hour 45 minutes?
In that case the correct procedure would have been for candidates taking the shorter paper to leave after 1 hour 10 mins and for your dd to have the full amount of time.
I think that this may count as exam maladministration and qualify for special consideration, but you need to inform the school as soon as possible.

At the schools I work at and the ones where my children go, if you have extra time you have to take it and can’t leave before it’s finished. You can’t just decide not to.

This is a massive breach and absolutely shouldn’t happen. Complain to the Exams Officer copying in the Head, I’m a Secondary School teacher and protocol and rules around the management of exams is , rightly, very rigid.

Edited because I misread and thought the OP's child had extra time. No student should be allowed to go before the end of the normal exam time unless there are special arrangements for them.

This is a massive breach of protocol. Very serious situation.
Write to the head outlining the situation.
If you knock the examining body for that exam, write directly to them.
It will be investigated.

This is maladministration and your DD should get special consideration. However, the school needs to apply for it. I’ve been involved in a case (not the maladministrator!) almost identical to this and the student got a couple of % added and the invigilator just had to extra training. It’s much better for the school to be honest about this as the penalty for ignoring maladministration is much worse. I’d contact the school again, staying really calm, but quoting the relevant sections of the JCQ guidance.

Have you spoken to school’s exams officer directly rather than someone else at school? I would contact the exam board directly.

Also (and apologies if you have done this and I’m stating the obvious!) you need to raise it with the exam officer and the “head of centre” ie the head/principal.

All papers are marked in the same way. Special consideration, due to exceptional circumstances, is added on at a later date and is a separate process.

Very bad invigilating! Contact the school immediately, as long as you’re sure that was the exact version of events.

Sorry - re-read slower now! As they’ve fobbed you off, keep going and make sure somebody takes it seriously. Examinations officer? If an academy chain, someone at central office?

Having invigilated GCSE exams we would never do this, we give a warning of how much time is remaining about 15mins before the end and that would be it. If your DD gets extra time it might be slightly different.
I can only think that this may be a poorly trained invigilator.

Complain to the exam board. Also there must be rules about timings. When I was in education, students were not allowed to leave in the last half hour of the examination. This school sounds very unprofessional.

Exams can be conducted in a very hand to mouth way, I remember presuming that a staff member would be coming to read out the official announcement before the start of the Higher Science exam, but no I was invigilating it totally by myself for 2+ hours. Should be two at all times in case a student needs the toilet, so things don’t always go as they should. Definitely complain.

Formal complaint to the school and tell them you will be contacting the exam board.