Anyone with any experience of using laptops for exams at Oxford - please help!

[coffeerevelsrule]

Ds always had a laptop for exams and assessments throughout school (average comp, if relevant) from Y9. This is purely due to his handwriting, which is pretty much illegible, despite his best efforts during primary school. He's a high achieving student and has just started at Oxford doing an essay based subject. He has had to apply for use of a laptop for the January exams through the disability service and provided a letter from his school saying he needed a laptop to produce work in line with age-related expectations (I think that was the wording) and has just received an email saying this does not constitute a disability. This is fair enough, obviously, but they have said he may qualify for a laptop if they assess him as having dysgraphia or dyspraxia. Having looked these up, it doesn't really seem he has either of these conditions - he just has awful handwriting, which everyone struggles to read. If he takes the time to improve it so it can be read (not really tried this since Y9) it slows him down to the extent that he doesn't complete responses.

He is really spiralling about this now and saying he doesn't feel it's going to be resolved. I'm kicking myself for not querying it at the offer holders' day we went to or prompting him to look into it sooner. He says he did ask during freshers and 'someone' said it 'should be fine'. Does anyone have any words or wisdom or reassurance for us? Surely it will be resolved somehow?

He could start with the welfare team within his college.

Is he sure that his course doesn't already have computer based exams? Several humanities courses switched in 2023. DD used a laptop for her finals.

There is also a skills team based at LMH who can support with non subject specific skills who may be able to help.

I don’t have any direct experience of laptops at Oxford, but my son used a laptop for GCSEs because his handwriting absolutely sucked, and was very slow. I paid for him to have a proper DASH assessment when he was about 13; his school wouldn’t have allowed him to use the laptop (especially for exams) without it. (This was a while back.) The occupational therapist (I think she was) who administered the test said he had ‘significantly low legibility’ (one way of putting it 😂) and distorted letter shapes, combined with some fine motor control problems and hyperextension. She recommended a laptop based on how slowly he could produce legible work by hand.

The reason I’m telling you all this is that this was enough for the exam boards - no dysgraphia or dyslexia, but significant difficulty with legible handwriting nonetheless.

From what you’ve said, your son has never had a formal DASH assessment? It might be what Oxford is looking for; it’s worth asking whether they would accept one, even if it doesn’t show dysgraphia or dyslexia. Could you possibly afford to have him assessed? If you’re on a tight income, his college or student support services might be able to help with the cost.

I’m sure there’s a way through. They want students to do well.

(Also, if it’s Collections he has in January, don’t worry too much. They don’t usually (ever?) contribute to the final mark (best to check that’s true in his case of course). Both of mine ended up treating them as unpleasant hurdles rather than important exams.)

Following on from @PacificState DD's college made a substantial contribution towards a diagnosis for ALNs

So he doesn’t have a laptop of his own at all ? My dd has the opposite problem, hates the laptop exams and would far prefer that they were still handwritten. Not helped by a horrendously stressful laptop crash when submitting a marked piece close to a deadline. 😬
He will definitely need a laptop, so if his college won’t provide one and you can’t afford a new one, then maybe ask around friends to see if anyone has a spare ? Colleges vary in terms of help and support, so it will make a difference which one he is in.

Thanks everyone. Yes, it is collections and he knows they don't count but still wants to go through the process and be reassured everything will be in place for the prelims. I also suggested going to Welfare, so he will do that when he goes back too.

I have never heard of a DASH assessment, @PacificState - his school just said as long as it was his normal way of working nothing else was required for him to use a laptop for his GCSEs and A levels (both done at the same place). It just never occurred to me to look further into it. I do feel I've dropped the ball here, but in terms of them wanting students to do well, that is what I have told him - there has to be a way. Anyway - DASH - did you go through your GP? I'm guessing not if there was a fee? Happy to pay.

@Christwosheds Yes, he has a laptop and uses it for absolutely all writing, but he won't be able to use it for exams unless authorised to use a laptop (I'm pretty sure his subject is not on computers as a matter of course but he can check) for exams and it won't be his own (I assume) that he'll be allowed to use for the exams.

This is my area of work so have come across this before. Basically schools and Uni's have different criteria when considering adjustments. Schools just want to know if there is an indentified need, e.g poor handwriting, slow reading speed etc. Uni's need evidence of diagnosed disability. So although your son had support at school due to his handwriting there is no actual diagnosis which would qualify as a disability at uni. The support services there can talk him through the process, cost and help with a full diagnostic report. The DASH is not enough on its own, though is often included within the assessment as part of a variety of tests used. He really just needs to go see Welfare and go from there, lots of support available if he does get a diagnosis such as DSA. Also, really no need to stress about these exams, good thing it got picked up now

Thank you - so to clarify, he has to actually have a disability and if he doesn't it's tough?? Having had a look at the DASH stuff online, it seems it's to do with dyslexia, which I'm certain he doesn't have. I am getting quite worried now as it seems that if it's just poor handwriting there's nothing to be done? His handwriting cannot be read but he doesn't struggle with any other element of study, organisation, anything...

Did he apply for DSA or have a Needs Assessment which states any access arrangements?

Yes, I think that is what he has just tried to do and been told he doesn't qualify as he doesn't have a disability. Surely he isn't the only kid ever to have an exams laptop for poor handwriting and then go to Oxford/uni?

Just checked - having established he is not disabled he is now being sent a needs assessment.

Has he had a post-16 assessment? One from year 9 is too old. If his handwriting is poor might he be dyspraxic or hypermobile ?

Sounds like he needs to improve his writing if it’s not a disability so there’s nothing holding him back except that he hasn’t practiced his handwriting. I would love to have used a laptop for the same reason but I instead had to slow down and focus on not scrawling illegible words. If that slowed me down I had to be more concise.

University requires that he can write legibly. If that’s their expectation barring disability then he needs to start working on his writing.

With all due respect, @HarvestMouseandGoldenCups that's not really helpful. He tried that for many years and it didn't work - I mean, of course he has practised his handwriting - years ago. He had a laptop for GCSEs and A levels, which are obviously public exams and I don't really see why there's such a big difference for university. If it was as simple as just write better he would have done that and I don't think it's in the least bit acceptable that laptops are given out with no formal diagnoses at school level and then withdrawn without warning at university. How is that fair?

As another poster has said, schools and university apply different criteria, DS had use of a laptop for GCSE and would have had for A level as well (COVID cancelled that) because the school assessed him as having a slow processing speed (the same spidery handwriting but very very bright) as that was his 'usual way of working' University would have required a needs assessment to show that this would be meeting a need, ie a specific assessment rather than a generalised issue. We would have had to pay for this assessment.

And it's not just a case of slowing down and improving your handwriting. The processing speed just simply doesn't allow you to put things down on paper in a limited time frame, not necessarily dyslexic either (ds had a reading age of 15 by age 5)

@coffeerevelsruleits fair because school is mandatory for all children - university isn’t. He was given a laptop because the school just wanted to get him through his mandatory childhood exams.

The university is an optional educational choice and they require their graduates to be able to write by hand unless a disability is preventing it. They are not making him be there like school was. He needs to meet their expectations/requirements to get the advantage of a degree from their institution.

I’d look into further testing if, as you say, practice doesn’t improve his writing which implies it is a disability/physical or mental disadvantage of some kind.

Even with a diagnosed disability university may ask for reassessment. Mine was diagnosed dyslexic aged 10 and had extra time / used laptops throughout high school. It looks like his upcoming uni won't accept an assessment that out of date, nor the 'normal way of working' and we're looking at paying for an updated assessment. I think student support might help with this but we'll probably look at getting it done privately before he actually starts.

Yes, I understand that @HarvestMouseandGoldenCups . But he is at university doing a subject he excels at and whether his answers are handwritten or typed has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the quality of them or his aptitude for the subject - which is massive. It just doesn't seem logical that handwriting should stand in his way. We will certainly look into further testing.

@tealsea That makes sense, albeit annoying for you (presumably) but this is where I feel I have slipped up. He's never had a diagnosis and it just never occurred to me that this would be an issue, which I'm hopeful it won't be in the end, but what a stress. I'm happy to pay for assessment, I just want to know it will be ok.

Oh I see, I’m sorry I misunderstood. So the issue is that the exams will be handwritten and he would prefer to use his laptop as his writing is hard to read ?
All dds exams (sounds a similar subject, very essay heavy) have been on a computer, so I assumed this would be the case. Perhaps it varies by college. Is he sure that he will be expected to write by hand ?

Ignore this - it’s utter bollocks. He needs to demonstrate he meets the prescribed learning outcomes for each module/year/course. I can guarantee you there will not be a learning outcome at any university that says ‘Demonstrate ability to hand write’.

One thing - can he read his own handwriting? If sorting this out takes too long he could always offer to transcribe his papers once he’s done them.

My sibling had very illegible handwriting, terrible, but isn’t dyslexic, he doesn’t have any kind of disability. He just had very scratchy writing. So your ds may not have any issue causing this, just not be great at writing. I thought all exams in Ox were on laptops now as this continued after Covid in some colleges definitely , but I wonder if others went back to written exams, I now have a feeling that they did. It may not last long though.

OP if he cant write legibly at the speed needed then assessment will confirm that he needs a laptop. It would be disability discrimination is they didnt allow that as there must be a reason whether fine motor skills issue or such - even if they cant label it they can measure speed of handwriting to be legible and he just has to print very very slowly to make it legible and then they cant not permit typing if that is the only way he can show his true potential.

Sorry that the DASH advice wasn’t useful - but get him to talk to student support, subject tutor at his college, academic support tutor at his college, support services in the English department - I can’t believe there isn’t someone who knows the answer to this. It’s absolutely not in Oxford’s interests to go to all the trouble of recruiting your son and then have him struggle in exams because of a mechanical difficulty (or whatever it is) with his handwriting. But he will need to bang on a few doors to find out who to speak to and what kind of evidence they will accept. (For what it’s worth, although may not be relevant now, I didn’t have a GP referral for the DASH test - just found a registered OT and asked her if she would do an assessment for us. It wasn’t super expensive.)

Quick thought, as others have said their children worked on laptops for humanities at Oxford - is it possible that Collections do it on paper in his college, and Schools (proper exams) do it on laptops? Older students in his college will know. Collections are college-based and are often a bit random I think.