too many people having extra time

[IrmaFayLear]

I didn't quite know where to post this, so I've tried here...

Dd came home in some distress as it turns out that 15 out of 20 people in one of her A Level classes are having extra time for exams.

Dd is upset that it now seems that rather than levelling the playing field for people who genuinely need assistance, a minority are being penalised. Furthermore some of these extra-time people are in "competition" with dd in that they are highly ambitious A* people.

Dd said that one girl told her that "slow processing" is the new watchword and they paid for a private assessment. Dd said that this girl has no processing problems when it comes to quick-fire banter on social media and it's never been mentioned before.

If the exams are deemed too short, then surely give everyone 25% extra time? As it is with this particular subject, it's a case of some people being given 25% less time.

I had a quick google and a)there are masses of sites telling you how to get extra time and how to "fail" the tests and b) Ofqual has said that it is getting out of hand.

I should have added, that was even with 2 high school teachers who she was close to spotting her difficulties, so it wasn't just me asking fir assessment

If some students get 25% extra time, those who don’t are not getting 25% less than them.

It's the 3 children out of every 4 statistic that raises questions in the OP's DD's cohort though, not any one individual.

It should logically be around 1 child in 6 getting extra time - so 3 or 4 pupils out of 20.

20% is so different from 75% that of course the few pupils not getting extra time will feel disadvantaged. Simply lecturing them about not having any right to question the situation will make them find someone else more receptive to their feelings of injustice, it won't convince any exam candidate actually in the minority without extra time that it's perfectly fair and nobody is playing the system.

One child in 4 has less than the average amount of time for the exam, where it would be reasonably expected that at most 1 child in 4, in an outlier cohort, and more usually fewer, would have more time than the average.

As soon as more than 50% get extra time it does look like a penalty for the minority, instead of the majority having the same time and a minority needing a reasonable adjustment.

I get that Agnes, but I also know that parents of DCs with difficulties of any sort tend to favour tge schools with the best pastoral care & will get in because they need good pastoral care, so there's no surprise that some schools have a higher percentage of those assessing extra time

DS1 is likely to have extra time in exams. He’s in year 8 and they are starting to collate the evidence needed to enable this.
He’s had intervention since he was small though and at times has had a scribe as well as having touch typing lessons to enable him to use a laptop. He’s had physio and occupational therapy for his handwriting etc etc
It takes DS so long to write that if he hand writes something it’s several levels below the quality of his work when he types it. Having extra time or a scribe or a laptop lets him show his actual knowledge rather than his ability to write an essay in a set time. And to be honest who handwrites pages of stuff now anyway?

RockinHippy perhaps it is that bunching together effect, but it's human nature to feel disadvantaged in the OP's DD's situation where being one of the 25% of pupils with less time came as an unwelcome surprise.

In a short answer exam the time difference might make no difference, but in essay subjects extra time would be useful for pretty much all strong candidates, so being one of the 25% with less time would feel like a kick in the teeth to most teenagers who've been coached to see these exams as of life changing importance.

OP. Just to check are the 15 / 20 definitely getting extra time or are they getting 'exam concessions' which can include:

• extra time
• scribe
• laptop
• prompt
• smaller room
• rest breaks

So e.g. if teacher said 'all those with concessions raise your hand' that could be higher than 'all those with extra time raise your hand'.

I know SEND teachers at high-attaining independent schools - the sort where parents intensively prepare their children to pass entrance exams - and a significant part of their role seems to be screening children for dyslexia or other learning issues.

I did scratch my head a little when I heard about this...

Another important point is, that extra time isn't going to help a bight kid, without any processing or other problems to do better, they will wade through the exam, understanding & writing at a faster speed, so won't really benefit from more time unless they actually need it.

Ultimately exams are an artificial scenario anyway, non representative of real life. But obviously we put a lot of weight upon them as a means of filtering DC towards particular routes.

RockinHippy they really would in English literature... I used to teach it. I'd have benefited from extra time myself in a coupke of my finals...

but it's human nature to feel disadvantaged in the OP's DD's situation where being one of the 25% of pupils with less time came as an unwelcome surprise.

Human nature to feel disadvantaged NOT to have a disability or processing problems. I've heard it all now

Another with mixed views on this..

My DC has severe dyslexia. Any issue the sub categories have to be below 85 for extra time in exams and is re-tested in year 10 to ensure it is still needed. 85 is the level that issues will certainly be seen, though not on social media thanks to prescriptive text.

Like a PP, my own DC could present to her classmates as not needing help: strong at non-literary based subjects (e.g. maths, science, creative subjects) but very weak in history, English, religion etc.

Our experience is that there is very little help available in the state sector for SpLD and certainly no funds for testing; this is why parents have to pay for private assessments as requested by the schools.

However the state versus independent school difference IS real: 20% versus 12% in state schools.

RockinHippy you are deliberately misunderstanding.

It's human nature to feel that there must be people playing the system if 75% of a cohort of A level students are getting extra time.

The kids with this extra time, be it eng lit or otherwise (& yes you have a point there) NEED the extra time to have any hope of achieving what they are capable of. They have NO advantage. GTA, I'd expect a teacher to know better

To be clear on the 85, that's a standardised score so the mid-point is 100, and average is 85-115.

While I am sure there are many who really genuinely need extra time or assistance for exams but there will always be the few that play the system.

The thing is, how is anyone to know who is "gaming" the system? As if dd would go round interviewing her classmates as to what adjustment they had! It may be that in her class there is an anomaly in the number of people needing extra time, but it seems rather unlikely.

Not deliberately misunderstanding at all

I just know from experience this is bollox & I'm pretty sickened at the lack of understanding & disablism on this thread & that someone would actually support their DC in their jealousy over perceived disadvantages in not being disabled etc.

RockinHippy my experience in the country I now live in (as I said I am out of touch with the situation in UK schools) is that there very much are parents playing the system and openly admitting to it in situations where they feel they are among friends.

Please don't lecture me about invisible disabilities

Then don't make dickish comments such as:

this girl has no processing problems when it comes to quick-fire banter on social media

I'm autistic (NHS diagnosed). When I'm very stressed I'm mute. But I can still write short posts on SM, and appear completely normal.

Don't make judgments on things that you don't understand.

See comments some way down. They have tightened up the system & I don't see how that can be played, especially not by kids at tge ages they would be when assessed. Sounds to me like your DD has allowed herself to be wound up by her classmate, who probably doesn't want to own up to why she really needs extra time, she's probably done it even more so if your DD was openly bitching & jealous of those getting extra time

RockinHippy 75% of an A level cohort are extremely unlikely to need extra time.

It's the kind of double think that declares a target to raise national average exam performance to above average...

You are being insulting, RockinHippy. No one is lacking understanding of what it is to be disabled. If there were two children in dd's class getting an adjustment no eyebrow would be raised. But when 15 claim one, surely anyone would think the bar must be very low.

I18.4% of kids for extra time for GCSEs or A levels in 2018.

I think they should make exams not reliant on time (within reason). It wouldn't be hard to do. Answers could be restricted to a maximum number of words.

I think the same should happen at university where it seems as though you only have to ask to get extra time. Basically if you want extra time at Uni then you can get it. You might have to lie a little but it's not hard🤷🏻‍♀️.