Any secondary teachers or even better exam markers here who could give an opinion on DS's handwriting?

[SelkieSeal]

School insist it's not too bad and that he should be encouraged to handwrite for his GCSEs. He does have an EHCP and can type reasonably well, so I am insisting on a laptop or scribe being arranged - he's only Y9 so there's time for this to be sorted but I just wanted a sense check.

I'm worried he will lose marks because the markers won't be able to read what he has written, and because the actual writing takes him so long and needs so much concentration that content will get lost in the process.

(Please nobody come along to tell me he should get better at handwriting, he's autistic and probably dyspraxic and his writing hasn't improved or changed in the last 5 years at least!).

I've attached a page from a mock paper he did at home last weekend.

I'm an examiner, it's completely fine, I can read it very easily without an effort.

I see so much worse. We are very used to it

Teacher

No problem reading that at all.

Seen much much worse.

Rather gloomy subject matter but you aren't looking for feedback on that lol! I'm not an English examiner anyway (science) so I have no idea what constitutes good creative writing

It's not the neatest in the world but perfectly readable.

His writing is legible, as a teacher I'd have no issue.

However the speed needs investigation for extra time, and whether a laptop makes him faster. Or even if a scribe would be better.

For maths do not use a laptop ever!!

Oh it's a Latin translation paper so not his own words!

Thanks all, I am clearly worrying for nothing 🙂

One thing I'd say and this is controversial. I've been examining for many years. If you use a laptop, spelling and grammar errors are more glaringly obvious. When it's handwritten, the brain glosses over them slightly more. For example where your son has written "throug". So, controversially, I'd say don't push for the laptop as it could slightly disadvantage him.

Teachers might be aghast at this but honestly, if you ask other examiners, it's true. We notice spag more immediately when it's typed.

Haha OK that makes sense! I did Latin at school and yes, teachers beating kids did feature back then haha

I'm a teacher and have been an examiner and that's perfectly readable to me - remember any teacher/examiner has lots of experience deciphering handwriting and that's not even in the worse 10% in my opinion - it's clear, the right size and spaced well which all helps.

It us decent clear hand writing.

His spelling is better when he types tbh. That's exactly the sort of error he makes when concentrating more on making the writing legible than on what he's actually writing!

Fair enough! The best thing to do (teacher hat on now) is to try out both options when doing homework. One week type, one week handwritten. Time him. See which works better.

This will contribute evidence for the senco. That will help build a case for laptop use in exams.

If he has an EHCP he has the right to have a scribe or laptop. I have marked GCSE papers I can read that.

As others have said, that is absolutely fine. Using a scribe is a real skill and quite difficult and lots of children don't like to use them. Word processors can also slow down the process.

I would recommend trialling different pens and working out what works best as the type of pen can have a big impact.

Thanks, that's a good idea. It might even encourage him to actually do some homework if I present it as a timed scientific experiment 🤔

He likes using pencil best as mistakes can be completely obliterated. He also likes those erasable pens for the same reason, but we've been told he should use black ballpoint for exams?

The professionals say they can read it ( so can I).

A family member had similar difficulties with hand writing, but this was before typing etc was an option ( before SEN diagnosis as well). His mum used to get him to copy a bit of text and then read it with him , he gradually got much better. His hand / eye coordination improved with practice.

As the Examiners have said it is legible, I would encourage him to keep trying. Maybe better not to be singled out for special help if you can manage?

It is fine imo. My 14 year old son's writing is much much worse and he has no additional needs. I believe he is dyspraxic but never diagnosed. He cant hold a pen properly and never has despite trying for years and buying every grip ever made. Teachers say not an issue

Writing is fine, and he is also clearly very good at Latin!

I’m an ex secondary teacher. It’s not the quickest of reads but far from
slow enough for the examiner to give up. It’s fine.

Echoing what others have said, that is perfectly readable, I've marked much worse and always try to read what is written no matter how bad the hand writing. If it's taking him longer to write push for extra time or provide evidence to school he can type quicker than write.

It’s perfectly readable. Teachers sometimes get wound up about tidiness, but examiners are only interested in whether or not they can read the content, and this is fine.

Unfortunately, pencil and erasable pens are not ok for GCSE exams. So definitely look for a biro he likes. DS1 has a preference for a Parker ball point. If that's not available, a "proper" biro - the fairly ubiquitous ones with the clear plastic hexagonal outsides.

The writing is fine. I'd agree with the science experiment on writing and timing. Let him try a laptop in an exam as well - remembering he can chop and change, so the short, one word answer and tick boxes can be online, and he can type any longer responses if he wants.
But, don't force it. DS1 types much of his homework. I thought he'd want a laptop for exams, but actually he "just" wanted the extra time - which he has been granted as an exam concession.

If in doubt, get typing an approved method, and then he can choose right upto the exam. If a laptop isn't approved as a way of working, he can't decide at the last minuite he wants to type. Basically, having a laptop as an access arrangement gives options!

Yeah, you have to use a black pen. The papers get scanned to be marked and I expect pencil wouldn’t show up.

I think his writing is fine – not pretty per se, but perfectly legible.

I used to mark lots of (badly) handwritten exam papers - this is not bad at all. Even neat writing will contain words that are not perfectly formed, and if a scrawl looks like a word that is meant to be there I would assume that that it is what it should be. when we switched to typed exams students complained it took longer, but that seems to have settled. I would definitely not expect your son to be disadvantaged by his writing.