Contextual Offers For Dyslexia

[Thatladywithacat]

Hello, we are starting to look at Unis for DD. She is bright but dyslexic. Wondering if anyone's DCs have had any luck applying to a Uni for a contextual offer with dyslexia, and if so, what sort of grade reduction did this merit?

I think that Surrey, Reading, York and Liverpool do offer contextual for dyslexia, but not sure which others?

Thank you.

Watching with interest.

I didn’t know some universities have contextual offers for dyslexia (and am quite surprised they do). DS has dysgraphia and applied last year. He got 3 contextual offers, but they were based solely on his school and postcode.

Holloway and possibly Bath as well?

Does she not have extra time in exams though, to level the playing field?

Each university has their own criteria for contextual offers so you should be able to find that on their website or from admissions dept.

It's almost always based on postcode and/or school that doesn't send many pupils on to university. But can also be young carers etc

I've not heard of it for dyslexia as the allowance should be made at point the person sits the exams at school or college such as extra time, a scribe, a reader. The university would rightly assume this had already been taken into account by exam board and would also offer something similar once applicant starts the university course.

Thanks, really helpful.

I didn't think there was a thing. Contextual offers are for children in an underprivileged position for whatever reason usually. Usually those with dyslexia have had extra time, scribe, reader, laptop etc at the point of exam in the belief that puts them on an even playing field with others. Surely a contextual offer would be like getting an adjustment twice?

The access arrangements for A level exams are intended to compensate for the disadvantages of dyslexia. Therefore there is no further adjustment for uni offers. However, disabilities of any kind are included in the application to ensure that disabled students are fairly represented among the offers made.

Interested as Ds has extra time. Will they have this for uni entrance tests too?

I do know some Uni's offer contextual for dyslexia. It is really not an even playing field even with extra time (ask any parent of a dyslexic child). The UK is very behind the US in this area.

In the US, Universities such as Harvard are red hot on this issue and have departments and big budgets focused on twice exceptional students (gifted with a learning disability) and supporting their needs.

I agree - a bit of extra time in an exam doesn’t make up for the struggles a child with dyslexia has on a day to day basis. It is quite frankly insulting to say that the current access arrangements compensate for the disadvantages of dyslexia.

They are all different and have individual needs, yet the adjustments made are rigid, and support in school is variable.

With our children, both bright and both with dyslexia - I have one applying to Oxford and one who is likely to finish year 11 with no GCSEs. With DS2 all the time in the world wouldn’t make a difference, he cannot cope in exam situations. DS1 achieves well with his extra time, but he rarely manages to finish a paper as he cannot work quickly enough.

DeadDonkey, thanks for your post. The support for bright dyslexic students in the state sector is frankly a shambles.

DD was bright enough to mask for a long time. We knew something wasn't quite right but as DD wasn't failing, teachers weren't interested. When I eventually kicked-up a fuss, I was told that a child with such a high MidYis score (like IQ/CAT) was highly unlikely to have a learning disability 😤😤😤Tested in top 3% for ability apparently. That was when we knew for definite as no way was DD performing anywhere like that level. Private Ed Psych report confirmed dyslexia (very poor working memory/processing).

Only thing school suggested was touch typing (which we paid for) and extra time. These were also recommended in the Ed Psych report. No way does this level the playing. Like I said, any parent of a dyslexic student will know this.

It's so hard DeadDonkey. Delighted to hear that your eldest is on their way to Oxford. I think Oxford has decent support in place? So many youngsters end up like your youngest though. This cookie-cutter education system of ours will hopefully be looked back on in horror 50 years from now.

Of all the places I wouldn’t have expected, LSE said they make contextual offers to applicants with learning differences. Loughborough said they won’t make a contextual offer but would take a learning difference into account if an applicant slipped a grade.

DancingDreamer, great to hear. Very surprised at LSE too but delighted that they are taking a lead on this. Hopefully things are slowly changing.

I can't see any mention of this on LSE site, or Holloway or York - haven't checked the others.i doubt it is because as others have said, the point allowance is made, is when the exam is sat.

A lot of people would argue that working memory and processing speed, are aspects of intelligence, otherwise everyone would have as long as they want in tests and exams

@fUNNYfACE36 I'd be interested to read the research on this - can you point me in the right direction please.

UCAS application has gone in - Oxford is a long-shot bur he has an AAA offer from Manchester which he's please about.

DS was diagnosed when he was around 9 not that it made much of a difference when it came to support in school. Our school uses Mellis and Yellis and DS also scored highly which didn't really help his case for support.

Fortunately for him he doesn't get stressed about anything and has a bit of a "what will be will be" attitude. He goes in to exams knowing he can only complete 75-80%. He skims the papers first - marks the ones he isn't going to answer and works on getting maximum marks on the ones that he will answer - it seems to work ok for him as a strategy, but makes me and his teachers very nervous!

I don’t think it’s something many unis offer, and quite often anyway with contextual offers you have to meet 2 of a qualifying list.

As previous posters have said, adjustments should be made at the point of exams. It’s fair enough to say that doesn’t totally make it up for all dyslexic students, but also that goes for a lot of various things.

I’ve already heard of, and seen posts on here about, the high number of private school children getting extra time in exams with suggestions parents are gaming the system to get a diagnosis and extra time. So it could negatively skew what is meant to be widening participation anyway

Sorry to take the thread off topic OP but I get so upset at the disrespect for private schools who support kids with SEN.

@PinkFrogss I think you are mixing up correlation and causation. As the parent to a DS who was refused any support and denied that he had any SEN in primary, for secondary we went into the private sector for the small classes and extra support. Surprisingly his MIDYIS was very high but class performance didn't back up his potential, so they tested him and yes he was dyslexic and although very bright, was struggling to access the curriculum.

As the curriculum is what is tested in exams - yes they need more help, more time and this needs to be specific. A referral through CAMHS and it turns out he's also ASD/ADHD and their subsequent cognitive testing confirmed the dyslexia and memory issues too, so nothing to do with a dodgy school gaming the system.

Disappointingly, we were explicitly told that if he had been properly assessed in early primary, his difficulties by the time it was finally confirmed would have been a lot less, due to the interventions he could have had and he wouldn't need so much support now.

We weren't alone, approximately half of his top set were in similar positions, although with a variety of different needs - not because they were in a supportive, private school who faked their diagnosis, but because their need meant their parents were in the lucky position to be to have been able to seek out a supportive, non-selective school with a highly respected LS department.

So, maybe spreading unproven rumours isn't the way to go. Maybe it's not gaming the system, but a broken system where state schools refuse to support children for SEN and block getting EHCP's due to the cost and demands on the state system - something very evident as soon as you find you have a child with SEN and are in support groups seeing this happen daily. Those who can afford it (and I'm so grateful we just about could), they get out. However, there's still an awful lot of need for dyslexic or SEN students in the state sector that isn't being met, so it's that their numbers are low - and I say that as a TA in a fab state secondary LS department, who still can't do everything to meet all students needs.

And maybe @funnyface36 all these kids need a break and to not be subject to a pile on because the intelligence and potential they have is not well measured in a memory trick, regurgitate 2 years in 3hours, style exam system.

And other educators would argue that maybe everyone should have more than enough time to finish an exam. There is a value placed in education of speed over reflection and careful consideration. In some jobs speed is important but in so many it is being right that makes the diffrence. A scientist would not pop the results into a calculator once grab the first findings and rustle up a paper. They take the time to check the results and consider the evidence. An accountant wouldn't rush through your tax return without taking the time to check the figures. Yes you can probably cite jobs where speed is important and for those jobs a timed assessment would be appropriate but there are no GCSEs / A levels which feed specifically into one career. I am not suggesting giving people days to finish a paper, but if a paper would normally be an hour, give them an hour and a half so there is plenty of time. Let people leave after an hour if they wish. It may an organisational impracticality given the tight timetabling but it doesn't mean the current system is right.

It's worth bearing in mind that unis can make whatever offer they like to applicants - it doesn't have to be the standard offer necessarily. If your child has been specifically impacted by their dyslexia in ways that exam access arrangements don't totally make up for, then ideally this would be discussed in the reference and the uni could take this into account when deciding what offer to make.

Contextual offers do generally refer to offers made to students who may be disadvantaged socio- economically, but students who've had difficulty during their a - levels eg due to illness etc can be given a lower offer specific to them by the university, if the uni feel it is justified. Usually the circumstances are discussed by the referee, or at some unis there's a separate form to fill in.

The uni will then decide what offer to make.

I think most unis don't offer a specific contextual offer for dyslexia because it does affect different students differently, and for some, the access arrangements they get in exams, perhaps alongside support at school, do allow them to show their full potential.

No dd didn't but she got 25% extra time in her a levels and university exams

Btw my dd was diagnosed at 7, we didn't game the system as some suggested. She was significantly behind until age 13, but something clicked - she got 4 A's and a*'s at a levels but in maths and sciences and electronics. 2:1 at top university, however it was mostly online due to covid and no dyslexia support really apart from finals (25% extra time) as everyone had 24 hours to do the online exams (covid)

As a parent of a dyslexic child now in Year 11, I agree with the posters who say extra time and other adjustments really don't level the playing field. Poor working memory is