Private school pupils more likely than state school to get extra time in exams

[LattePatty]

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/lofqual-students-extra-time-exams-2024-25

Context: I have a GCSE age child in a state school who doesn’t need extra time and a younger child with SEN who probably will.

I heard this yesterday - 1 in 6 pupils get extra time in exams (which is more than I would have realised) and the proportion is HIGHER in private schools than state schools.

How can this be? I know there are some private special schools but the majority of private schools I know are academically selective. Are there really higher levels of SEN needing extra time in private schools vs state?

So what’s going on: Are private schools gaming the system? Are private school parents more able to pay for assessments privately? Something else?

We all know that private schools fees give the advantage of smaller class sizes and better facilities and maybe better teaching (moot point I think). But I certainly didn’t realise another benefit might be extra time in exams.

I think you are confusing screening with diagnostic testing. They screen all of the children, but any that are flagged would need diagnostic testing and presumably that would filter out any false positives.

Honestly, I don’t blame private school parents for sorting out assessments. If you’re paying sky-high fees every term, of course you’ll use every legitimate option available — extra time, coloured overlays, emotional-support fountain pens, the full academic spa treatment. You’re not spending £30k a year for your child to play on ‘hard mode.’ The truth is, the state system crawls at the pace of a damp sponge when it comes to SEN assessments.

Private schools can handle things quickly, smoothly, and without eighteen forms signed by someone who only works alternate Thursdays. Is it an advantage? Definitely. Is it unfair? In many ways, yes. But is it surprising that parents with the means do whatever they can to help their child? Not at all.

That’s called parenting, not criminal genius. Really, it says less about private schools ‘gaming’ the system and more about how desperately under-resourced the rest of it is. When the bar is ankle-height, stepping over it can look a lot like cheating.

I can sense the subtle envy and jealousy from here, coming from OP and state school parents whenever they post threads to subtly, or not so subtly, criticize private school pupils and their parents. State school parents often seem to feel the need to judge harshly who make different choices, acting as though they are morally and socially superior.

Agree. We don't use private schools (mainly because none of the local ones have strong academics) but I make no apology for paying for private diagnostic tests and specialist tutors.

Not to hot house my child but to give them the skills and support they need and deserve

Please read the JCQ guidance and regulations document I have posted on earlier in this thread so you have an understanding of the rigour of the assessments and the large evidence base required from schools prior to any assessment taking place.

Question for those in the know on here. How does DS go about proving he needs extra time for his dysgraphia? Does he take the assessments handwritten?
He normally types those subjects that can be typed but he can’t type maths which is his weakest.
His OT report says a lot of this is because he can’t line working up, struggles to use a ruler, and can’t always read his own writing even when it is his numbers. He can’t lay stuff out neatly on a page. He’s supposed to have large squared paper as a necessary adjustment.
He seems to do well in wordy subjects like history because he can type it all. Hybrid subjects like sciences it’s a bit of a mish mash.
He’s doing German and is good verbally but needs extra time for writing because getting all the umlauts etc in is time consuming.

JCQ does not regulate primary school testing 🤷‍♀️

JCQ accepts current EHCP as evidence, and you can get EHCP with severe dyslexia, it is of course extremely difficult nowadays to get anything from the state, but not absolutely impossible so no, it's not just Form 8 in year 9.

What's wrong with coloured overlays? Is a piece of plastic also astronomically expensive for state schools and parents?

TBH its the continually replacing them, due to use, storage, general wear and tear and loss. and teachers are not given supplies so the pupil has to go to where they are stored centrally to get a new one if they have and in stock at all as they have to be ordered in specially for the pupil and to the pupil's requirement.

It can cause disruption in the class and often they are not supplied as teachers are supposed to use the settings in whatever program they are using for the lesson (PPT, google slides) which often do not have the correct colours as they are specific to the diagnosis and it is possible to have two pupils that need different colours in the class.

the best way around this that I know of is that the pupil has glasses with lenses that are tinted to their requirements.

I have never claimed JCQ regulates primary school testing.

I have also known two students in 25 years who had a statement of SEN or an EHCP for extremely severe dyslexia.

It's the parents' responsibility to help their child. Surely we buy pens and paracetamol for them?

Yes, a couple of pupils in DD's class wear tinted glasses. I'm sure this will also be called unfair advantage 😂

The system has been abused , many schools due to a number of reasons ie improving results, parent or student pressure. The system is being tightened up because of this.

You commented my post where I said pupils in DD's class don't have extra time and whilst it wasn't clear from the first post I was talking about primary, I then asked you: "I don't get your point about y9 and y10 🤷‍♀️ Do you believe disabled children in primary are simply left to rot? 🤔" so it was clear then, but you still refer to JCQ 🤷‍♀️

Yes, the nightmare of getting EHCP even for severe disability is also a national scandal. My son was denied it even with autism and severe dyspraxia that lead to physical struggle and injuries, concussions etc. No wonder dyslexics struggle to get support.

I merely pointed out that your statement "JCQ stopped dyslexia being used for extra time" is not 100% correct - which you have just admitted as you've seen two dyslexics with SEN/EHCP and EHCP is accepted by JCQ as evidence.

Anyway, it's splitting hair. Many dyslexic pupils manage without extra time, with other adjustments, like the ones in our school.

I’m simply trying to let parents know that a diagnosis of dyslexia will not qualify their child for extra time. From experience and attending the JCQ course annually, it doesn’t work that way unless the child has an EHCP, so it can lead to disappointment at exam time, whether in state or private schools.

Yes exactly, and I've simply corrected your statement to let parents know that if their child has severe dyslexia, they should fight for EHCP.

There was no mention of EHCP option in your initial statement, and this is exactly how the system works: hides info, misleads, tells people to not even think about applying for adjustments and be ashamed of themselves for seeking diagnoses as it's somehow "gaming the system".

Anything works to save money.

Here are this year’s JCQ regulations, in the public domain:

https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/JCQ-AARA-2025_FINAL.pdf

P. 5.2.2

Our school has an Education Psychologist that assessed any pupils referred by teachers

nonormans link isn’t relevant for all exam boards

Ours took IGCSEs and the requirement for those with the boards
mostly Edexcel and Cambridge had to be met

Assessments took place over many months
The need was generally picked up early by teachers so some. pupils will have had extra time every summer in their end of year exams ( from year 1 prep age 8).

Parents didn’t need to request them, they were automatic and pupils were told if they had extra time well before any Igcse mocks

The assessments carried through to A levels

Most Private schools have the resources and money available to meet the needs of the assessments . So it’s not surprising they have a greater uptake over extra time

Other Ways schools make reasonable adjustments to accommodate students needs include
a room to yourself to take the exam
a computer

You would think that its the parents responsibility but there are a lot of parents that don't provide their children with pens and paracetamol.

I'm sure that some would call tinted glasses an unfair advantage, bizarrely its often used as an excuse for their children to wear sunglasses in class. :)

1. At primary school, children are supplied with all stationary, so parents don't buy pens until secondary.
2. Reasonable adjustments are supposed to be provided by the school. We don't ask a child's parents to build a wheelchair ramp.

I'm autistic and sometimes need sunglasses indoors. Don't be so quick to label things as "excuses".

https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-GB/text/smath/main0503.html

It's an equation editor that works with Libreoffice Write to let you type neat maths equations. Might be worth investigating.

How about you don't be so quick to take offence.
It would be NT children that would be using those needing tinted lenses as an excuse. A child with autism would be able to wear sunglasses as a reasonable adjustment and it would be in their EHCP

How do you know they are NT? I wasn't diagnosed until I was over 40, so as far as the people who write EHCPs were concerned, I was a misbehaving NT child who kept trying to shade her eyes with her hand and screwed her eyes up in class and, from my early teens onwards, got migraines a lot.

Actually, coloured overlays ARE quite expensive. It's not a case of buying a bog standard bit of coloured plastic. They are exact shades which a child will have been assessed as being most useful for their eyesight.

My senco in the stage school I worked at, guarded them like jewels.

And the alternative as am exams officer is starting the exam morning, by printing off exam papers onto the correct colour of paper. I'm not kidding when I say that I would sometimes print onto three types of blue and two shades of green and lilac.

Prvate schools can afford to give the pupil the overlay to use in every lesson
OR they all have ipads for learning and the screen can be tinted. Not like stage school where every handout would have to be printed onto coloured paper.

All children who learn better with an overlay should have one.

*obviously I mean state school, NOT stage school.