AIBU - 10 mins between GCSE papers!

[lrene]

I’m annoyed that my son will have only a ten minute break between two GCSE papers. This is due to a clash over two papers which were both scheduled for 9am.

He’s my only child so I have no idea if I am wrong or not - would appreciate some honest feedback. He will be coming in at just under three hours of writing once the “break” is factored in.

I think it’s appalling. Barely enough time for a wee…. If it’s quite common though I’ll just shut up and get on with it - pls advise!

AIBU?

Loads of O and A Level papers used to be 3 hours long back in the day. Your son will survive.

Why have you created two threads about this? Are you not liking the answers on the other one?

ETA - Not stalking you, I had commented on your other post and when I clicked on this one, I couldn’t work out where my replies had gone when I realised it was the same.

Last time I checked, I wasnt supervised and not allowed to talk to people for 3 hrs a day, and not allowed to get up. Though I get how if your a production worker, pilot, train drive, bus driver, doctor, nurse, or a surgeon etc, that situation would apply

Will be fine. The 10 mins is just to go to toilet and back to exam hall. I did several 3 hour papers during my A levels. Couple of times it was 3 hours, 30 mins lunch then another 3 hours. I came out with all A's so I think it was fine.
My 10 year old has her 11+ this year. That's 1hour15, 15 min break, then 1hr 15, so 2.5 hours. If she can handle that at 10 then I'm sure yours at ?16 can manage nearly 3 hours. Unless there is some additional need you haven't mentioned?

So no different to a 3 hour exam? In fact better as he does get a loo break at the midpoint?

I agree that 10 minutes is a bit stingy. It's not the writing for 3 hours, but the change of subject mid way. I think doing 2 completely different exams in 3 hours is a very different kettle of fish to settling down to one for the same length of time.
Exam boards try hard to avoid this kind of thing hence exams that are commonly taken together rarely clash. So this is unlikely to affect many pupils and cause a big logistical issue with keeping them separate. I find it hard to believe that it's so difficult to provide supervision for a few kids for a bit longer - there will be staff involved in both exams too after all. The only thing I can think is that they are trying to fit both these exams into the morning session and there's an afternoon exam in the same location which I can see would be tricky, but I do think it's tough for the affected pupils to have such a short break.
When my DS had 2 A level exams that clashed he and the one other pupil affected were offered up to an hour's break but they opted for 30 mins. That gave them enough time to "switch off" from one subject and on to the other, have a quick drink and go to the toilet without it feeling too rushed. They didn't want longer though as they wanted to get it over and didn't feel that being shut in an empty classroom for an extra 30 mins wpuld have added any benefit. I'd say 20-30 mins is ok but I do think 10 mins is very short and I would probably ask the school for an explanation as to why they are not giving 20mins if that is what exam boards recommend.

My family is just not normal clearly, but DS (if he was concerned about this at all) would definitely have asked the examination officer himself if it could be changed. And she would have treated him as if he was a rational person (which he was) and told him yes or no with reasons. And that would be job done.

In Germany, the A-level equivalent exams last between 4-6 hours! I know that’s not relevant here but it blew my mind first time I heard it.

It’s really not a big deal some
exams last three hours with no break.

Perfectly normal, just as last year my DS had 7 exams in one week then 2 the next.....or multiple other combinations.

It is quite rare for them to have exam clashes, but they are always dealt with this way.

You need to set them up with juice/chocolate/banana/something quick for energy to keep them going in the second exam.

No I just thought a poll might be easier to be honest.

I don’t have an issue with the exam back to back as such, I just don’t understand why they opted for ten mins only,’it seems remarkably stingy.

Well good for you I guess. 💪💪

Thanks everybody, the fact that I’m clearly being a bit precious has really sorted me out. I’ll shut up now!

My dd did an art gcse assessment (y10) that was 5 hours with a 30 min break for lunch last term. And then same again the following day.

She said the hardest thing was not talking or communicating rather than working in silent concentration the whole time. She likes to natter!

i think your dc will be fine.

Sadly this is unavoidable. Especially if it is different exam boards. I'm an invigilator and last year I had one kid who had a day literally full of clashes. He had to sit 4 exam in one day and longest break was an 45 minutes where he was in a room with us invigilators. I was invigilating three out of those 4!

I don’t think three hours of writing with a short break is beyond a 16 year old.
He had more joys to come - I remember having 2 “A” Level exams in one day - that was 6 hours of writing.

My O levels, back in the olden days, were 3 hours long for a single paper. I had to ask for a loo break partway through a couple of them and was escorted to the toilet, losing writing time. So your son has it relatively easy IMO

Some exams are 3 hours long, this really isn’t the end of the world. Plus you can’t change it anyway so reassure your son it’s fine and don’t put it into his head that this will negatively impact him. The only thing that will negatively impact him here is you if you put him off

Spare a thought for the kids taking GCSEs overseas. On one day mine has 3 exams, which include a clash. They aren't allowed to start until 11:30, this means they will finish the last exam at 21:00!

Same happened to DD last year. 2 clashes (same subjects both times), both in the afternoon so didn't finish until nearly 5pm. They had a 20 minute break and, on one occasion, a third exam in the morning. It's not ideal but she coped ok. Fortunately she had an exam free day the following day.

for my O levels we had 60 girls in the hall - if we'd had a 10 minute break approximately 40 of them wouldn't have managed to make it to the loo.

OP ask the school if they are aware of this 10 minutes and if they honestly think it is long enough

I remember (back in the late 90s 😱) someone having to stay at a teacher's house overnight due to three clashing papers. I think this might have been A Levels? Anyway, can you ever imagine that now?! No way would it be allowed!

Lots of A level exams are 3 hours long, but most GCSE exams aren't, and DC have to sit a hell of a lot more exams in total for GCSEs than A levels, and are 2 years less mature, so it's not comparing like for like. I don't see any harm in very politely asking whether there's any way he could have the break extended to the allowed 20 mins (or getting your DS to) but accepting that if may not be possible for logistical reasons.

Had it with my GCSEs and I think my Maths paper 1 and physics paper 2 only had a 20 min gap for my A levels. It does suck and I feel the poor boys pain, but it is an unavoidable fact of life unfortunately - scheduling is often shit, admin is almost always poor when it’s important, and things don’t run smoothly.

I am a maths tutor now and all I can say is try and remain calm, it might help his stress to do a bit of extra practice for those two exams so he feels extra secure. I would bring a treat for the ten mins inbetween (personally my go to treat when I’m stressed is a snickers or a kinder bueno). Make him his favourite dinner when he gets home that day or maybe even a take away if you’re that way inclined. Also, remind him GCSEs are not the be all and all, you can resit and it will probably not have that much impact on your life trajectory. I don’t tell that last bit to every student, because some of them would use it as an excuse to be lazy, but I think for most kids it’s worth reminding them that there’s always a plan B and it is not the end of the world if you panic in the exam and don’t do as well as you could. 🥰

How will he ever cope in the real world? 🤣 It's pretty common! My daughter had time to use the loo, stuff a snack in her mouth before she was being pushed into the next exam so no one could talk to her.