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?

No way this should happen. Every school in the country sits the same exam at the same time, (give or take a few minutes). Exams must not finish early, they must go on to finish at the exact time even if the pupils have finished. I would report it.

Candidates may leave an exam after one hour if they wish to. For GCSES some schools make candidates stay for the entire duration of the exam, but that’s a school decision not an exam board rule.

Whether it finished before time or she left in her extra time is a really pertinent question.

one is a complete no, the other is allowed if they have finished

Candidates may leave after one hour. This is the official JCQ rule.

I didn't think you were allowed to leave early as all the children sitting that exam boards gcse paper sit it at the same time to ensure no answers are passed on etc I'm highly shocked they finished early tbh a complaint the exam board should help

Invigilators seem to not take their job seriously- at my child’s school they chat and laugh though the extra time she’s allotted. Seem to lose the point of their job after most have gone…

idiots.

WTAF? They can’t do this. They simply can’t. Talk to the exams officer at the school AND the exams board directly.

Make sure you let school know now that she needs the time so that it doesn’t happen again, everything in an email and nothing over the phone. The school will want to avoid contacting the exam board because of how it will reflect on them so you might need to push for them to deal with it properly unfortunately.

I second this… do it immediately

Exam administration is nothing to do with the exam boards, it is overseen by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). You need to complain in writing to the Head of Centre usually the head teacher) and ask for Special Consideration.

They can leave after one hour as late candidates are generally not admitted one hour after the start time. We can admit very late candidates but heir paper may not be marked by the exam board. So by allowing candidates to leave after one hour and not allowing candidates to start after one hour you avoid the issue of possible collusion and sharing of answers.

You. Can’t. Talk. To. The. Exam. Board. Directly.

You need the exam officer or principal. Exam boards aren’t for the public, they’re for the centres.

Put something in writing to the school asap.

all depends, was she sat there pens down staring out of the window or actively reading or writing. If all students had pens down it’s fine to finish early. My dd finished exams early despite getting 25% extra time

I would go above the exams officer to the head. Our current exams officer is really good and I would trust her to right any wrongs, our old one would have covered her back and fobbed you off. Have more than one person in the emails, I would put the head, head of the subject and the exams officer- this way there is too many people for the email to “go missing”

Here is the email to report malpractice if it is AQA the exam was with.

[email protected]

I’m sure your DD answered literally that she had finished the exam. Had she known what it would have meant she might have answered differently.

A lot of neurotypical people don’t understand this literalness and the teacher made an assumption. It is so frustrating and you should complain.

I also think it’s a good idea to say to your DD that it’s OK to reply No, or I need to check, without being a wrong answer.

She first needs to establish if there was malpractice. Candidates do not need to stay for their extra time. They are free to leave. I invigilate candidates with access arrangements: some stay for the entire period, some leave after a few minutes, some don’t use their time.

Try it then. See how far you get. They won’t do anything until they’ve heard from the centre.

This sounds like the exam finished and those with extra time were asked whether they needed it. They should know to use what's been given as an accommodation, but they can't be made to.

Absolutely shouldn’t have happened. Your DD was entitled to every scrap of the time allocated to her and the invigilator had no right to take her papers away until her time was up.

Complain to the Exams Officer and head teacher as the head of the exam centre. They are obliged to inform the JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) of an allegation of malpractice. Not to do so is itself malpractice.

See here - www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/blogs/understanding-and-avoiding-malpractice/

Exactly this!

I’ve just invigilated 5 hours of exams today. Some schools allow you to leave before the end time as long as it’s after the hour. Ours doesn’t. If you arrive late you can leave with the normal time students but you need to sign to say you are happy you are losing time. All ETs have to sign a sheet to say how much time they have used. Are you sure she left before her normal time and not into ET? Only schools can contact JCQ (learnt this the other day). However if it’s school policy to let them leave early then you need to ask them to make sure your DD stays to the end.

This isn't how life works. She was entitled to it and declined it. Of course the examiner had the right to act upon the information communicated. The issue here is with whether the pupil thought she was being asked a subtly different question.

Absolutely ridiculous how many posters seem to think the exam can't end before the allotted time is up. Pupils must stay for one hour and can't be forced to use any access arrangements.

They are entitled to the time, but don’t need to use it. Removing a paper from a student who says they have finished (but has an access arrangement of extra time) is not malpractice.