Page 4 | GCSE exam finished early. What can I do?

Maray1967 · 14/05/2025 17:23

Triptothepark · 14/05/2025 15:17

A complaint in writing to the school examinations officer asap.

This! I’m invigilating a few GCSE exams and they cannot finish early!! Students with extra time do not have to use it, but the exam must not end before the standard duration. What the hell is going on in your DC’s school?

Pomegranatecarnage · 14/05/2025 17:25

YANBU-this is a serious maladministration of the exam. No candidate should be allowed to leave early. No invigilator should ask a candidate whether they have finished. I would ask for a meeting with the Headteacher re the training of invigilators, and I would also inform the exam board and ask for the school to do the same.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 14/05/2025 17:26

YourNumber · 14/05/2025 15:43

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.

Edited

Exactly this.

dapsnotplimsolls · 14/05/2025 17:27

Exams should continue until the allotted time is up. Email the Head and the Exams Officer and try to speak to one of them tomorrow.

Pomegranatecarnage · 14/05/2025 17:28

SuperSange · 14/05/2025 17:04

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.

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There are numbers for parents to call-and for members of the public to report malpractice or maladministration. What. you. have. written. is. incorrect.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:28

I invigilate candidates with access arrangements, some have an e reader, some have extra time, some have a scribe, some have rest breaks, some use a word processor.
my role is to ensure the arrangement is in place eg e reader set up.
whether the students uses the access arrangement is entirely up to them. It is not the role of the invigilator to guide a candidate in any way. A candidate not using the access arrangement does not constitute malpractice on the part of the invigilator. We don’t receive letters from solicitors because a candidate didn’t want their extra time!

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:30

Maray1967 · 14/05/2025 17:23

This! I’m invigilating a few GCSE exams and they cannot finish early!! Students with extra time do not have to use it, but the exam must not end before the standard duration. What the hell is going on in your DC’s school?

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That’s a school rule not a JCQ rule. Candidates may leave after one hour and if all candidates left after one hour then the exam is over. Doesn’t happen often, but I have invigilated an exam where this was the exact scenario.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:32

Pomegranatecarnage · 14/05/2025 17:25

YANBU-this is a serious maladministration of the exam. No candidate should be allowed to leave early. No invigilator should ask a candidate whether they have finished. I would ask for a meeting with the Headteacher re the training of invigilators, and I would also inform the exam board and ask for the school to do the same.

Not correct. Candidates may leave after one hour according to JCQ rules.

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 17:37

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:30

That’s a school rule not a JCQ rule. Candidates may leave after one hour and if all candidates left after one hour then the exam is over. Doesn’t happen often, but I have invigilated an exam where this was the exact scenario.

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Actually so I have but only when it is a language exam they tend to be fluent in - none of the needed the extra time in writing or reading
for everyone to finish early in any other exam unless it was extra time seems ok

Lucia573 · 14/05/2025 17:38

Notellinganyone · 14/05/2025 15:47

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.

This. I’d add in the governors too. Exam boards take the administration of the scams very seriously and the school have not followed the rules.

Lucia573 · 14/05/2025 17:40

It’s true that candidates are allowed to leave, but invigilators should not be asking them if they have finished. This needs to be addressed.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:40

YourNumber · 14/05/2025 15:43

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.

Edited

Ime this is exactly what should happen.
when I invigilate if a candidate has extra time I let them continue working while other candidates’ papers are being collected. They put their hand up when they want to leave during the extra time. I only tell them to stop working when their extra time has finished.

CatChant · 14/05/2025 17:41

Yes, candidates may leave after an hour into an exam under JCQ rules.

And yes, candidates granted extra time under access arrangements are not obliged to use that extra time.

But OP said the invigilator asked her DD if she had finished and DD replied that she had finished the paper but added she was planning to check it in the time she had left. That was my understanding of the post and, in such circumstances, the paper should not have been removed from her.

Butchyrestingface · 14/05/2025 17:42

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.

Did she say anything at the time? Obviously she now needs to say "No, I've barely started" in future.

I remember during my extra time arrangements 30 years ago, I still had time left to spare for my CSYS English exam when the stupid boot of an invigilator tried to get me to stop writing. I objected and she responded with the immortal words "you don't look like you need the time anyway."

Afterwards, I asked my head of year how I could make a complaint to her 'professional body'. He larfed.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:42

Lucia573 · 14/05/2025 17:40

It’s true that candidates are allowed to leave, but invigilators should not be asking them if they have finished. This needs to be addressed.

Yes, this is the key point.
if an extra time candidate gives me their paper at the end of the exam I ask them if they are sure they don’t want to use their extra time. I want to make sure that the candidate is aware the access arrangement is there for them.

Fairislesweater · 14/05/2025 17:43

Exams Officer here. Ask the school to check the incident log. If they interrupted or finished the exam before the allotted time this would be considered maladministration. They should report themselves to the exam board and also apply for special consideration for the students affected.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 14/05/2025 17:44

It was the same when I sat my GCSEs in 1989. When I invigilated a few exams about 5 years ago as part of my job was I surprised to see how much standards have slipped with regards to protocol in exams. Poor kids. It was clear to me that sometimes younger teaching staff who shared the invigilating with me hadn't experienced proper protcol in their own exams when they were young.

It's really disruptive to a student to have other kids leaving early while you're panicking trying to do a difficult question or check your answers. It can put you off and if discipline is poor in some schools it can be hard to concentrate if there is no staff to supervise in the corridor outside the exam hall/room as they just start chattering straight away.

It does kids absolutely no harm whatsoever to just sit at a desk for half an hour staring into space or with eyes closed relaxing until the actual exam finish time is reached. It avoids disruption to the other kids, and sometimes when the brain has relaxed a bit something may ping in their heads and they realise they put the wrong answer down and so then can go back and change it. If they've already left then they aren't allowed back in.

caringcarer · 14/05/2025 17:44

WombatStewForTea · 14/05/2025 15:17

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

This. DC should not be put under pressure to finish befor valloted time. This happened to my youngest DC. I told him to always say I want that spend rest of my allocated time checking my responses. Once he said he sat for almost 10 minutes then suddenly remembered something important to question and added it on. If they had removed his paper that could not have happened.

stichguru · 14/05/2025 17:44

They have messed up big time. Check who the awarding body is. If they are one of the ones overseen by JCQ (Joint council for Qualifications), contact JCQ as they are the ones who oversee fair practice in the exams. If they are NOT contact the exam board.

If your daughter can tell you check EXACTLY what was said by her and the invigilator. Was the asking if she had finished, just to her or the the kids generally? It sounds like some of the kids had finished and the invidulator asked those that were obviously still working generally if everyone had finished which is entirely malpractice and the school and the invidulator should be in a world of trouble.

DuckbilledSplatterPuff · 14/05/2025 17:44

YourNumber · 14/05/2025 15:43

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.

Edited

Yes. I've had to campaign for extra time... Write to the school and copy in govenors and Ofsted.
Having her exam time docked by 20 minutes, is very poor and it will have a weight with the marking /exam official even if its small, it might be the extra marks needed.

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 17:44

CatChant · 14/05/2025 17:41

Yes, candidates may leave after an hour into an exam under JCQ rules.

And yes, candidates granted extra time under access arrangements are not obliged to use that extra time.

But OP said the invigilator asked her DD if she had finished and DD replied that she had finished the paper but added she was planning to check it in the time she had left. That was my understanding of the post and, in such circumstances, the paper should not have been removed from her.

Not necessarily she may just have said yes she had finished and the plan to check may have just been something she was thinking of doing and didn’t say.

all of this need clarification

Thelondonone · 14/05/2025 17:46

Dreichweather · 14/05/2025 16:01

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

Do not do this!

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 17:46

CatChant · 14/05/2025 17:41

Yes, candidates may leave after an hour into an exam under JCQ rules.

And yes, candidates granted extra time under access arrangements are not obliged to use that extra time.

But OP said the invigilator asked her DD if she had finished and DD replied that she had finished the paper but added she was planning to check it in the time she had left. That was my understanding of the post and, in such circumstances, the paper should not have been removed from her.

did she communicate that to the invigilator or not? Not clear from the post.
regardless I think it’s worth the exams officer reminding invigilators that extra timers should just be left to work, no need to ask them anything unless the candidate has indicated they want to leave.

CaptainMyCaptain · 14/05/2025 17:47

MyDeftDuck · 14/05/2025 16:42

Clearly, the invigilator wanted an early finish. They should at least have asked all the pupils if they had read through their completed papers and checked their answers BEFORE collecting up the papers. When I took O Levels, even if we had all finished, we had to sit it out until the allocated time was up…….but that was before colour TV, mobile phones and when the earth was flat 🤣🤣

When I was an invigilator we were paid by the hour so there was no incentive to finish early. They should not collect the papers before the allotted time of the exam has passed although we had a few named individuals one year who could not sit beyond an hour and they were allowed to go quietly. If the OP's child had Extra Time this is slightly different as not all candidates want to use all the time they are given although I always used to ask if they were absolutely sure they had finished.

DorotheaDiamond · 14/05/2025 17:53

CurlyhairedAssassin · 14/05/2025 17:44

It was the same when I sat my GCSEs in 1989. When I invigilated a few exams about 5 years ago as part of my job was I surprised to see how much standards have slipped with regards to protocol in exams. Poor kids. It was clear to me that sometimes younger teaching staff who shared the invigilating with me hadn't experienced proper protcol in their own exams when they were young.

It's really disruptive to a student to have other kids leaving early while you're panicking trying to do a difficult question or check your answers. It can put you off and if discipline is poor in some schools it can be hard to concentrate if there is no staff to supervise in the corridor outside the exam hall/room as they just start chattering straight away.

It does kids absolutely no harm whatsoever to just sit at a desk for half an hour staring into space or with eyes closed relaxing until the actual exam finish time is reached. It avoids disruption to the other kids, and sometimes when the brain has relaxed a bit something may ping in their heads and they realise they put the wrong answer down and so then can go back and change it. If they've already left then they aren't allowed back in.

Sorry but there is no way to keep all the kids in the room until the last person has finished. When you’ve got multiple exams of different lengths plus extra time and rest breaks you could end up with the kids who finish first sitting twiddling their thumbs for an hour! We get them to leave as quietly as possible - plus when you’ve got rest breaks jumping up and down you’ve got unavoidable distractions anyway.

on the subject of leaving I believe it’s not they have to stay for an hour after the start it’s 30 mins after the last allowable start time - so mornings exams are scheduled for 9 but can actually start any time between 830 and 930 so no one can leave before 10. Most schools insist kids stay for full duration to avoid this exact issue - where a kids says they are done, leaves early then changes their mind. Obviously invigilators should not be asking kids if they want to leave though. Some schools insist those with extra time stay for all of it - personally I think that’s a bad idea as it means they might rush so as not to use any rather than have to stay for another 20/30 mins doing nothing, but it’s a school rule not a JCQ one.