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Original poster

GCSE exam finished early. What can I do?

450 replies

CAMHShelp · 14/05/2025 15:15

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?

OP posts:
semideponent · 14/05/2025 22:07

Three things that might help:

  1. Feedback to HT about invigliator, who needs to remain in place for the exam time they're paid for or until all candidates have voluntarily finished and handed in. This is the big complaint - it's where the system let you down. DD's time is DD's time. No pressure within that etc.
  2. Giving DD a way of visualising her exam - finishing the questions is not a compete arc, She lands safely once she's completed her checks.
  3. A bucketload of love and encouragement.
ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:08

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:06

i would ignore the posts on here about engaging lawyers and do the following:

  1. back to exams officer and explain the situation that Dd was asked if she had finished and said yes, but actually wanted to check her answers, but didn’t say that or didn’t feel she could say that.
  2. you and exams officer decide together how best to avoid this happening again eg Dd stays for the full amount of extra time for every exam. you know your Dd best and the exams officer can ensure that invigilators are aware of the situation and how your Dd can be supported.
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Have you been in legal trouble before? I ask because you are against the op getting legal help. You called lawyers “ranting”.
OP get legal advice if this what you need to do for the matter to be taken seriously by the school.

AthWat · 14/05/2025 22:09

TicklishMintDuck · 14/05/2025 22:03

The exam was due to last 1 hour and 45 minutes and the invigilators finished it after 1 hour and 25 minutes because the students had stopped writing. They should have let it run to the official finish time. Exam boards are strict with their requirements.

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I'm not at all sure that was the situation; the OP is not clear to me.

MrsHamlet · 14/05/2025 22:11

CAMHShelp · 14/05/2025 21:57

Sorry to clarify, she did not have extra time.

If the exam was finished early, it is centre maladministration and they have to report it.

Contact the exams officer and the head of centre and draw their attention to appendix 2 of this: www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Malpractice_Sep24_FINAL.pdf

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:11

CAMHShelp · 14/05/2025 21:57

Sorry to clarify, she did not have extra time.

I may have misunderstood your post.
I assumed you meant she did not use her extra time despite having extra time.
or do you mean that she doesn’t have extra time and the exam was ended by the invigilator before the finish time?

CaptainMyCaptain · 14/05/2025 22:12

AthWat · 14/05/2025 22:09

I'm not at all sure that was the situation; the OP is not clear to me.

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The OP has confirmed that her daughter did not have Extra Time. The exam was cut short when the invigilator asked if she was finished. This should not have happened.

AthWat · 14/05/2025 22:13

CAMHShelp · 14/05/2025 21:57

Sorry to clarify, she did not have extra time.

So what your daughter says is the invigilator decided at 1 hour and 25 minutes of a 1hour 45 minute exam to ask if everyone had finished, everyone said yes, and the invigilator then collected the papers against her subsequent protests? Basically saying she couldn't change her mind if she'd said she'd finished?

I mean if this is true then it definitely warrants investigation, because it's so extraordinary; but on the other hand it's so extraordinary I find it difficult to believe that it did happen like this, and that the school would just be brushing it off.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:19

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:08

Have you been in legal trouble before? I ask because you are against the op getting legal help. You called lawyers “ranting”.
OP get legal advice if this what you need to do for the matter to be taken seriously by the school.

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That’s quite the leap! No, I haven’t been in any legal trouble 😇
i think the OP should take the sensible approach of establishing the facts before going down a legal path.

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:21

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:19

That’s quite the leap! No, I haven’t been in any legal trouble 😇
i think the OP should take the sensible approach of establishing the facts before going down a legal path.

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Ok - I find your being against the op getting legal advice /action odd. Facts are established. The school isn’t being active. Legal route has to be acknowledged.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:21

AthWat · 14/05/2025 22:13

So what your daughter says is the invigilator decided at 1 hour and 25 minutes of a 1hour 45 minute exam to ask if everyone had finished, everyone said yes, and the invigilator then collected the papers against her subsequent protests? Basically saying she couldn't change her mind if she'd said she'd finished?

I mean if this is true then it definitely warrants investigation, because it's so extraordinary; but on the other hand it's so extraordinary I find it difficult to believe that it did happen like this, and that the school would just be brushing it off.

Edited
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I find this completely bizarre and if this is what OP’s Dd says happened then pursue with the school.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:25

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:21

Ok - I find your being against the op getting legal advice /action odd. Facts are established. The school isn’t being active. Legal route has to be acknowledged.

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are you deliberately being obtuse? The facts have not been established.
Escalate at school, ask for exams officer to confirm what time exam finished and evidence for this. If no joy with exams officer then contact head.
The legal route will require evidence so start with getting the information from school and Dd.

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:25

was it biology? That does have different finishing times and if her DD did have extra time then that could be it and there was a mistake made as to the length of time

Otherwise it goes against any training I have ever seen

AthWat · 14/05/2025 22:26

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:21

Ok - I find your being against the op getting legal advice /action odd. Facts are established. The school isn’t being active. Legal route has to be acknowledged.

Show quote history

No facts are established. Even the OP was not actually there.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:27

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:25

was it biology? That does have different finishing times and if her DD did have extra time then that could be it and there was a mistake made as to the length of time

Otherwise it goes against any training I have ever seen

Could be, as combined science is one hour ten or 15 depending on board and triple science is one hour 45.

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:27

AthWat · 14/05/2025 22:26

No facts are established. Even the OP was not actually there.

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Exactly!

B1indEye · 14/05/2025 22:32

This sounds very odd, are you saying the invigilators asked the whole class if they had finished and let then go early?

First step has got to be to establish the facts before deciding what to do

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:34

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:27

Exactly!

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The OP has described the situation as she knows it. You don’t want her to get legal advice / that’s shady. Now you’re saying that the op doesn’t have facts. She has determined what happened. Get legal help OP a lawyer will sort it out. Don’t listen to people telling you not to get legal advice.

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:35

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:27

Could be, as combined science is one hour ten or 15 depending on board and triple science is one hour 45.

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Yes and is a nightmare - candidates sitting the wrong paper is not unheard of (when I did exams the year before it had occurred) so the paper being taken away here would make sense. A mistake and one which should be looked into but one I can see how it happened

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:35

B1indEye · 14/05/2025 22:32

This sounds very odd, are you saying the invigilators asked the whole class if they had finished and let then go early?

First step has got to be to establish the facts before deciding what to do

No, I think you’ll find according to some posters the first step is to seek legal advice and anyone who does not think that’s a good idea (ie me) has clearly been in legal trouble themselves…

ShanghaiDiva · 14/05/2025 22:36

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:35

Yes and is a nightmare - candidates sitting the wrong paper is not unheard of (when I did exams the year before it had occurred) so the paper being taken away here would make sense. A mistake and one which should be looked into but one I can see how it happened

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Indeed it is!

MrsHamlet · 14/05/2025 22:39

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:34

The OP has described the situation as she knows it. You don’t want her to get legal advice / that’s shady. Now you’re saying that the op doesn’t have facts. She has determined what happened. Get legal help OP a lawyer will sort it out. Don’t listen to people telling you not to get legal advice.

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It's not for her to determine though. The centre has to carry out an investigation before anything else can happen. That's the process.

And the priority before the post is collected on exam days is checking and packing the scripts. Everything else comes after that.

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:46

And exactly what is legal advice going to achieve? There is only one recourse here and that is special consideration applied for (and the facts will need to be set out and statements taken and sent off as part of the application)

certainly contacting the exams officer getting a clear idea from her DD and then the invigilator and take it from there.

I would be looking at getting special consideration- given she finished the paper and was using the time to check it the special consideration added (say 3%) for me would offset anything she would have spotted in the exam and would even it out.

If it is biology (and that was Tuesdays exam as DD also took it) then finishing it with time to spare is according to my DD fairly common!

then I would expect the centre/school itself to look at its practices (particularly if mistakes occurred due to confusion between triple and combined) and then extra checking going forward. I know the one I worked at did after it gave 5 combined science pupils triple papers.

so not sure what legal advice would achieve

labradorservant · 14/05/2025 22:48

Maybe it’s a school where they can leave before the exam finished. The class did that. DD felt under pressure to go to. So she left. Then realised she shouldn’t have, and thought mums not going to be happy so said she was told to go? Think that’s why we get kids to sign. What happens in an exam and what they tell the parents can differ. Recollections can vary! Just another angle to consider and a reason to understand what happened. If she was asked to leave then that is wrong.

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:53

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:46

And exactly what is legal advice going to achieve? There is only one recourse here and that is special consideration applied for (and the facts will need to be set out and statements taken and sent off as part of the application)

certainly contacting the exams officer getting a clear idea from her DD and then the invigilator and take it from there.

I would be looking at getting special consideration- given she finished the paper and was using the time to check it the special consideration added (say 3%) for me would offset anything she would have spotted in the exam and would even it out.

If it is biology (and that was Tuesdays exam as DD also took it) then finishing it with time to spare is according to my DD fairly common!

then I would expect the centre/school itself to look at its practices (particularly if mistakes occurred due to confusion between triple and combined) and then extra checking going forward. I know the one I worked at did after it gave 5 combined science pupils triple papers.

so not sure what legal advice would achieve

Perhaps have a think yourself about what legal advice could achieve.

Tiswa · 14/05/2025 22:58

ButterCrackers · 14/05/2025 22:53

Perhaps have a think yourself about what legal advice could achieve.

Show quote history

Yes I have and beyond getting special consideration on the paper and the centre having a malpractice charge against it causing the JCQ to be aware and keep an eye on it.

exactly what do you think @ButterCrackers legal advice will achieve.

i can guarantee malpractice had occurred multiple times so far in this gcse/a level period. I know one definitely had at DDs school.

If the OP gets special consideration applied as I said I believe that would cancel out the 20 minutes fairly easily