My daughter has fallen sick during A level exams

[WishIwas21]

All,

Hope you're well.

My daughter has fallen sick during her A level exams and is unable to focus or revise. She sat 3/9 exams but I don't think she'll manage any of the others.

I don't believe she's fit to continue. Is anyone familiar with the rules around funding if a year 13 were to redo the year. She wouldn't be resitting the exam per se as she will only have managed 1 of 3 papers from each subject.

I'm in the midst of collating medical evidence for the school.

I'd be grateful for any guidance.

Kind regards,
Sidra

https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-requirements/special-consideration

The rules are clearly explained here and apply to all exam boards.

If you have money then I would get her to a private hospital and on iv antibiotics so she can recover ASAP and sit her next exams.

That's surprising since various courses/universities don't accept resits particularly top universities for very competitive courses.

You would of course hope they would be more understanding if there is a genuine medical reason for a serious illness. However the OP's daughter has a chest infection which in most cases is going to be considered a minor illness (obviously dependent on what the doctor says).

Hopefully she'll be fine after half term and can do as many as possible. My son spent three years in sixth form but that was because he wanted to change his subjects.

It's so sad that we live in a world like this

Missing papers can't be caught up and grades cannot be calculated based on mocks or on one sat paper - students need to have done a certain % of the qualification for a grade to be awarded ( I think it's 70% but haven't properly checked). So , I am afraid posters are wrong in suggesting to you that if she has done 1 out of 3 papers for an A Level, she will get an award of a grade.

She needs to try to focus on getting better. As some have pointed out, there is a break coming up.

when an exam is being sat for the first time it’s not considered a resit.

Also, exams missed due to illness is information all universities including the University of Oxford take into account. If a child it too sit to sit in an exam, they’re too sick. She was taking a gap year anyway and will be doing her UCAS application in September.

This is what the contextual bit on the UCAS application is for.

They cannot reject a student because they were too unwell to sit an exam. And sat it when they were well enough.

But she has a chest infection OP. How do you know she will still be too ill to sit the exams after half term?

But she has been registered now, and sat some papers/assessments so any exams taken next year are effectively resits. Look at the link @Dearover mentioned below, she needs to take a minimum of 15% in each subject to get a result. You can explain the situation on UCAS applications if needs be.

I got the flu during one of my A-levels, and they used my mock grades as my final grade. Worth asking rather than hold her back a year? Seems a waste of time, illness can happen any time!

That 15% is about being eligible for special consideration, though. That's not quite the same.

I think it is more than 15% sat for a grade to be calculated. We had this when a student got appendicitis. Happy to be proved wrong, But all the worked examples are of students missing one unit.

No, they don't do this any more!

That's not an option now.

It’s not going to be as low as 15% sat for a calculated grade but you should be able to find out tomorrow from the school

If she misses two papers this week and sits the ones after half term she could get a grade based on what she's done I'm sure. It's got to be easier/better to try and get them done this year than to have to retake them again in a years time.

On a side note, this is why exams are more spaced out now than they used to be. It came in during Covid to avoid students being in isolation or perhaps still ill/ symptomatic for the next exam in the same subject.

when an exam is being sat for the first time it’s not considered a resit.

This isn't correct OP. Has the school exams officer told you this? She has been entered and has sat papers. They will therefore be classed as resits even if she missed papers.

I’m certainly hoping she’ll be well enough to sit the exams after half term. For the two missed papers we’re hoping she can either sit them in November or next summer as an external student. She wasn’t intending to go to University in Autumn this year so she’ll be fine as she explain the situation on the UCAS form plus her teachers will also refer to this.

im hoping she’ll be well enough for the exams after half term and if so, the point about redoing year 13 would be mute. My concern has been that the GP mentioned it could turn into pneumonia and hence my panic.

She cannot sit A level in November. It's not possible.

For the two missed papers we’re hoping she can either sit them in November or next summer as an external student.

She can't re-sit them in November and whenever she resits she has to take all papers - even the ones she's sat already,

To universities they’ll be explained as sitting of missed exams caused by an illness. A resit is if you sit the exam but here we have missed exams. It’ll be fine.

You are completely wrong and giving your DD the wrong information.

I think people are trying to tell you that your plans aren't going to work - you can't mix and match exam seasons. The grades are on a distribution curve so grade boundaries can change every year.

My daughter mentioned a student that had left her sixth form returned to resit a single exam. Perhaps different sixth forms have different rules.