GCSE's: special consideration for missed year 10 due to extreme medical circumstance

[Runtus13]

Can anyone give me advice or point me in the right direction for how exam boards view special consideration for missed education due to extreme medical situations?

My 15yr old daughter missed almost all of year 10 because she was living with very high levels of pain, both before and after diagnosis of a neurological condition that eventually resulted in neurosurgery in August this year. During the past year she attempted to go into school when she was able to bear the pain but at most made it in for one or two lessons a week at the beginning of the early terms and was then moved to online schooling - but even this proved very painful as she could not sit up and her eyesight was and is affected by the neurological disorder. We were able to watch historical documentaries and read educational materials together however and have tried to keep her on track as much as possible, as much for her mental health as anything else. She was in a wheelchair for most of the year and is now trying to become mobile again and return to school, with the aid of physiotherapy and the after affects of the surgery. She is also seeing a counsellor to help her with the emotional affects of the past year....

The school have been very flexible and pretty much do whatever I ask but are reactive rather than proactive, which leaves me struggling when it comes to how to approach the PPET's and exams next year. When I have asked about mitigating circumstances and consideration for her situation all I have got back is that they need a letter from her consultant detailing her condition and then each exam will be considered separately - but that will just be about giving her extra time or allowing her to rest as far as I can tell. That could be helpful for her and I will absolutely get that for them but what I want to know is..........is there anyway of asking for special consideration for the huge amount of lost learning time or the disadvantage she has compared to others sitting the exam??

If anyone has any knowledge or insight I'd be really grateful. She is at school in Hampshire and sitting mostly AQA papers. The school talk about removing her from some exams as a solution and we have already done that for one subject but TBH her self confidence is really bound up in academic success (she always struggled socially so threw herself into academics prior to the medical stuff kicking off) so making her drop other subjects of resit the year without her friends would break her heart. Her grades were always in the 6-8 range prior to this and I think she'd be ok with just passing right now but without some consideration she might struggle......with everything she's had to go through, it just breaks my heart.

Page 5: Candidates will not be eligible for special consideration if preparation for, or performance in the examination is affected by: 2.3.1 long term illness or other difficulties during the course affecting revision time, unless the illness or circumstances exacerbate what would otherwise be a minor issue at the time of the assessment (i.e. difficulties over and above those that previously approved access arrangements would have alleviated);

https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Guide_to_spec_con_process_June22_FINAL.pdf

Unfortunately I don't think there is any.

Special Consideration is for something that happens around the actual exam time or during the coursework submission deadline. It is a minor upwards adjustment of the marks.

*Candidates will be eligible for special consideration if they have been fully prepared and have covered the whole course but performance in the examination, or in the production of coursework or non-examination assessment, is materially affected by adverse circumstances beyond their control. These include:
2.1.1 temporary illness or accident/injury at the time of the assessment; 2.1.2 bereavement at the time of the assessment (where whole groups are affected, normally only those most closely involved will be eligible); 2.1.3 domestic crisis arising at the time of the assessment;
2.1.4 serious disturbance during an examination;
2.1.5 accidental events at the time of the assessment such as being given the wrong examination paper, being given a defective examination paper or CD, failure of practical equipment, failure of materials to arrive on time;
2.1.6 participation in sporting events, training camps or other events at an international level at the time of the assessment, e.g. representing their club or country at an international level in chess or football;
2.1.7 failure by the centre to implement previously approved access arrangements for that specific examination series.

Candidates will not be eligible for special consideration if preparation for, or performance in the examination is affected by: 2.3.1 long term illness or other difficulties during the course affecting revision time, *

All they can do is to make reasonable adjustments in how the exams are carried out, so that might be rest breaks or whatever, depending on how her condition is affecting her

See link above. I don't think she qualifies.

I'm also in Hants (waves). her best bet is to drop 1 or 2 subjects and use the time to focus on catching up the others. Better by far to have 7 at grades 6-8 then 9 at grades 3-5.

Especially as we have colleges that only ask for e.g. 5 at grade 4/5 to do A levels plus subject specific grades.

Could your DD move down a year in the hope she’ll be more able to cope by the time her exams start.
Could your DD enrol in an online school so she can work at her own pace?

I’d ask that the school request rest breaks and extra time.

I think it would be difficult to request marks for the units/ topics missed, if that is what you were wondering.

Honestly I'd go for playing the long game.
Check your local A level colleges for their entrance requirements for likely A level subjects and focus on meeting them.

At the end of the day, these are qualifications, supposed to tell people what you know/can do. Special exam arrangements and special consideration for those ill at the time of the exam are there to help those who do know the stuff but might not be able to demonstrate that on the day.
They can't compensate someone for having missed half the course; the solution to that has to be to repeat a year, or find time to catch up by dropping some subjects.

The important thing is that she gets her maths and English, and that she makes up the ground in subjects she wants to continue with at A-level. Her school will presumably make allowances for taking her into sixth-form, and other local sixth-forms would probably do likewise once they know the circumstances. As for university, although they may look at the GCSE results, they'll be more interested in the predicted grades. Your daughter, and whoever writes her reference, will be able to explain the lower GCSE grades, and that should be taken into consideration by those courses that do have GCSE tariffs.

She won't be given grades on work she has not studied or completed . If she has missed lots of the course she can't get a grade. Sp cons is for something that happens in the latter part of courses where most of the work has been done and there is a significant body of evidence relating to achievement on the course content- not for being absent through most of a course.

Is it feasible for her to re-start Y10?

I think the maximum special consideration is 5% which is a matter of a few marks.
I'd see if she could repeat year 10 out of choice.

Unfortunately I don't think there is any as it only applies for the period around the exams. I have a son in a similar situation re hospital and also I had cancer and was doing chemo etc - as my chemo was in my DDs GCSEs she could claim an extra 4% (5% if I died) via the schools exams officer. The school initially said no to putting a request in for that but I contacted the JCQ and they said it was valid for my daughter and then the school applied and got it though on one exam 4% would have taken her over 100% so it wasn't awarded. You can apply for things like in a separate room, extra time etc if there is a disability or condition which means that is needed. Otherwise with an EHCP you may be able to get a year repeated if needed though sometimes you are better to do less GCSEs but enough for minimum A levels, and then continue.

My DS as a year younger gets nothing even though he had me with cancer at a younger age and was also in hospital himself 8 months because a medicine he was given went wrong and left him in close to a coma. Heard of kids with cancer getting nothing as well just as didn't hit exam period.

The best option would be to negotiate moving back a year. They don't give extra marks in your DD's circumstances though she may get reasonable adjustments eg 25% extra time in the exams

Is DD receiving medical needs tuition when she isn’t well enough for school but is well enough for that?

Does she have an EHCP?

I agree with @TeenDivided saying focus on the long game.

The special consideration is for time immediately around the exam period not other lost periods.

My DS missed the vast majority of high school due to a mental health breakdown which started in year 7. He only started focusing in the final months/ weeks before GCSEs in year 11. By that time I looked at what was required for A levels. At our local 6th form it was 6 grade 5's or a above.

He achieved slightly more than that but not much just one top grade (8) in a subject he's particularly talented at and the rest to the lower end. He's been able to embrace the entire curriculum for A levels with those grades and has been encouraged to apply to Oxford for his chosen subject having achieved 3 A*'s in the end of year 12 mocks and the UCAS form is able to reference the lost learning and below par GCSEs. So the point is don't worry too much about results at GCSE, especially if it is beyond your control.

Other than that see if you can push back a year if the LA/ School will allow.

Good luck

Thanks all for your replies, much appreciated. Restarting the year would mean having to make new friends (as hers would move on to college without her) and as a child that has always struggled socially, that would be devastating. After the year she has had I just couldn't do it to her......... to ask her to do that after living through the living nightmare of 12 months of chronic pain with no pain relief, being wheel-chair bound and then having brain surgery to remove part of her lower brain and upper spine, I just can't tell her she now has to start all over again with trying to make friends in year 11. It would cause complete devastation mentally to a child that has had to be so strong.

I do understand what everyone is saying about the exams being there to test knowledge that a student 'does' have though, so it makes sense that she can't be given any special consideration for long term illness that isn't directly affecting her at the time of the exam. The Neurosurgery registrar is apparently putting something together that we can submit around access arrangements etc but I'm fearful of it not saying the exam board requiring, as the Neuro Dept secretary is deeply unhelpful and refused to take any details of what we actually need :-( My DD doesn't have an EHCP but does see a Counsellor weekly so I'm going to ask him to put something together too, stating she would benefit from specific access arrangements.

When it comes to potentially dropping subjects it is something we've thought about but the issue is that the subjects she really wants to pursue at A 'level are the non-mandatory GCSE subjects she is currently taking plus Art - which is the one thing she has been able to do whilst ill, and so again it means an awful lot to her mentally. She's already dropped the one non-core subject she can so dropping anything else would then start to limit her options are college and in all the time she's been at home we've used the future as a way to keep her motivated and positive............taking that outlook away now would cause a lot of upset and undermine a lot of hard-won positivity.

The medical evidence doesn’t have to specify what access arrangements are required, it only needs to confirm the disability. Then, the other evidence from school demonstrates their is significant and persistent difficulties and how they have a substantial impact on teaching and learning and that it is the normal way of working.

Depending on DD’s needs going forward, think about requesting an EHCNA. Also, if DD has more time off ensure medical needs tuition is put in place where appropriate.

Oh ok that’s really helpful to know thank you. I hadn’t clearly understood that re access arrangements so that’s good to know

Honestly?
My sister missed all of year 10 due to a serious health condition and opted to repeat it. She's never regretted it.

Take the stress off her, give her the breathing space, do the year again.

Also I get that you fear the impact of making friends, again my sister was in a similar position to what you describe socially, and it was much much easier than she feared.

Discuss dropping to minimum number maths english and her favourite subjects
Maybe one science/double science

Dd was in hosp school for a while for medical reasons they focused on eng maths science art
Drop anylanguage etc

Maybe drop science

As pp have said, play the long game. 5 GCSE's is all that needed long term. Would she fit the criteria of the University of Cambridge Foundation Year (one of the criteria is time off school for ill health) - that might give her something to aim towards?

You can see what is required in the JCQ guidance. It specifically mentions the medical evidence doesn’t need to specify e.g. extra time.

Apologies for the very poor SPAG in my pp.

Have her schoolfriends been supportive during her time off, have they visited lots, kept in touch?

If not, starting Y10 over could be a good thing albeit tough at first. A friend of mine had to repeat a year due to illness and was put in my class, her original group had been pretty useless at keeping in touch while she was off. She made new friends fairly quickly, in fact as she was older she was seen as a bit glamorous as I recall!

If your DD is not socially confident she might even find a younger group easier to fit in with - I imagine she has missed a year’s worth of social experience as well as school.