HELP: Highers Exams - what if he doesn't turn up?

[52andblue]

I have a 17 y/o in S5 sitting 2 Highers on 16th.
He has Autism. He has Dyspraxia. He has Dyslexia.
He joined the School last year and has had almost no support

He is incredibly nervous about the exams. The last working at grade he was given (last week before study leave) was a B & a C and he got very depressed.
He has Clinical Anxiety diagnosed too.

Unfortunately, his Grandmother is dying. We visited (2 day round trip) last week. She is DNR & not expected to last & may pass before / during exams. In any case it has upset him greatly. He is struggling to revise & yesterday said to me that he might not be able to go in for his exams. I have informed the guidance team but they are very hands off. I think they would be happy if he didn't stay for S6 (his wish) as he is still waiting to hear if he can take his subjects (a whole month after other kids without ASD have confirmation of their timetables)

I looked at the SQA website but it was unclear to me (sorry, lots going on atm)

Can anyone give advice as to what to do should things go really wrong?
I think he is better to try the exams as he may not be given predicted grades if not? But he may not be ABLE to / or may do very badly / walk out if stressed?

Rather than the guidance/pastoral care team I would advise speaking to the SQA coordinator - most schools have one. In our school it's one of the year heads and she deals with all the appeals and everything exam related.

Phone school first thing on monday morning and be awkward. Demand action. Be "that parent". What have you got to lose if they are rubbish anyway. Your poor lad.

Would his gp effectively "sign him off" due to his current heightened anxiety? That would be some help with the exam board.
Were his estimate grades (not just every class test, but the final estimate grade for each subject, the school will have passed these on) be high enough that he could use them for an appeal?

Contact the school NOW in writing to named head teacher , list your son's diagnosis, mention the family situation, say he is exceptionally stressed and can they please arrange for him to sit the exam (supervised) alone in a quiet room. (This is not an exceptional rewquest in difficult circumstances so they probably will agree. The may even have other pupils with same need who could share a quiet room.

Then you tell DS that each exam is ONLY three hours out of his whole life, and he needs to get that fact into perspective and give it his best shot. Don't ramp up the drama. ALL kids are tense and stressed around exams. it's normal.

Go softly softly at home during exam period ; this is the same for all parents not just special needs. (make meals he likes, provide snacks during study, make sure he eats, washes, goes to bed early and gets up in good time; lift to school if that helps. ignore snappy temper etc; ) but otherwise just play it calm and cool. Exams are not the end of the world, there are always resits and other places to do them. You get that into perspective... so that he doesn't pick up anxiety and tension from you.

^^ That's very good advice

I am a HoD as well as a senior marker for SQA.

The instructions to schools were very clear - the working grade issued to parents most recently (so end of April) has to be arrived at based on evidence gathered by the school that they are confident demonstrates that level of attainment. If a pupil does not then achieve that in the final exam they can appeal and the school will be required to submit the evidence they have gathered to the SQA where a team of senior markers will assess the evidence provided. In our council, we were expected to do similar levels of moderation as last year so that we could be confident that we were not misleading pupils/parents in their expectations.

The advice above re sitting in a separate room is excellent and a GP note would be enough to secure that.

In terms of being able to sit the exam or not on the day, technically the school does not need a GP letter - a letter from the Headteacher would suffice - however if you are not confident in the school's willingness to support your DS I would suggest contacting the GP and asking for a fit note that you could hold as back up if on the day itself he feels unable to cope. If he does not sit the exams, you would present the school with the fit note and they would submit "exceptional circumstances" to the SQA immediately - the same evidence as would be used for an appeal, but it would be considered (again by senior examiners) in time for a result to be issued in August. Again - the school estimate/working grade should be the minimum award achieved.

Hope that helps.

He is sitting 3 Highers (1 already taken est grade A)
2 to go next week, one day after another est grades C & B.

He has had an awful time lately. In Feb his Tutor of 5 (a family friend) died.
We visited his Grandmother a few days ago (I had to go he insisted on coming)
It was a long way & a long trip on public transport & she was shockingly ill
(DNR & days from passing I think? certainly she acted that way with Ds).
Yesterday morning, since I started the thread, I had news from my Brother that Grandfather was bluelighted in & is now in same Hospital as Grandmother.
We're being stoic but obviously there is unavoidable distress in the house.

I am keeping things very low key as I did during his last set of public exams.
But, it doesn't matter how much I reassure him, he is well aware that exams are important (School push this VERY hard) & he is highly anxious / not sleeping etc.
I am supporting revision if he can but mainly keeping him rested, fed, relaxed. His MH is more important than anything to me (he O/D'd 2 yrs ago, not exams but bullying but I never want him back 'there' again)

I am not sure whether he is 'better' to go in if he can or not?
His preferred method of revision is to do previous papers at home then mark.
He has done 2 and scored himself a F on both. He has now given up & I don't know if he thinks it is worse to go in or not. I think he should if he can.
He is terrified of stuffing up his OK grades by performing badly in the exam. So terrified he might not be able to go in. But neither of us knew what happens if so

Neither he nor I are in any way trying to play the system. I genuinely don't know (& am quite stressed myself so even if it were laid out in black & white I don't know if I'd 'see' it iyswim?). But nor do I want him to disadvantage himself. With ASD, Dyspraxia, Anxeity & Dyslexia he has enough disadvantage as it is.

I am very grateful for the replies above, esp @margotsdevil

Can anyone spell it out for me please?
I understand I should contact School in writing (SQA co ordinator)
His exams are on 18/19th so is Mon too early or best idea?
I am speaking to my GP on Weds about something else so I could sound them out then too?
What do I ask School FOR please?

Email school ASAP. That way they/you have time to put anything into place.

Ask the school to clarify what happens if DS either a) doesn't show up or b) shows up and does poorly on the exam. Ask if they'd need a doctor's note and if so if it needs any specific wording, e.g. if it needs to mention the specific dates of the exams.

After that's clarified, if it looks like the best option is for DS to go in, ask for any adjustments that could help. For example, would it help if DS could wait inside the building before the exam, instead of crowding outside with other anxious teens? Would it help if he was in a smaller room, rather than the main exam hall?

With the issues you describe, he should already be sitting the exam under separate accommodation surely?
The school won't know your son as well as if he had been there from S1, so make sure you tell them everything you can about him - the previous OD would be significant I'm sure.
The questions a pp said to ask sound perfect.
If he was able to sit the exam and did well that would obviously be a big boost to him. His earlier grades suggest that is possible. But you do need a plan B and C.
Good luck

He already has some accommodations yes. He still struggles.
Now there is the additional stress of family members about to die.

It's a question of is it better to sit the exams & do v poorly, or not sit them at all ?

It's more than that though, you do not currently know which scenario will allow for an appeal to go in. It might be either - or it might be if you don't have any arrangement in place not to sit that you wouldn't be able to appeal. I really don't know, but I would want the answer to that before I made any decisions.

I would contact the school tomorrow to request the separate accommodation. If talking to the GP I'd recommend a note directly referencing the anxiety or bereavement.

My understanding is (and I would expect the school to have already clarified this - if they haven't I would request in writing) that the grade awarded should be the higher of the grade achieved on the day or (if necessary after appeal) the estimated grade.

I would always urge a young person to have a go in this situation although I appreciate that with an imminent bereavement that may not be possible. I do hope DS manages to achieve to his potential 🤞

I don't think anyone can say for sure you would get the higher of two grades as it depends if the SQA accept both the standard or evidence and the marking on the evidence. A prelim is unlikely to have covered the full course for example, so it might not count as being "enough" evidence.

Which is why we were expected to do the same level of work to moderate assessments and marking as last session to ensure that our estimates were accurate. There has been massive amounts of pressure put on teaching staff again this session as a result.

Still no reply from School.
I have emailed 3 separate people & phoned too.
I will go up there tomorrow as Ds is not improving or able to study at all.
I have also spoken to my GP who was not agreeable to a sick note but did say she would 'note my concerns' on his medical record.

@MistressIggi
@margotsdevil

Finally a call from SQA admin person at School.

"2 routes: if too unwell on day call School (don't need GP note) & we will submit 'exceptional circumstances' to SQA. Grades already submitted will be re-marked cold by them. Likely to be in line with School but no garuntee. Grades in Aug.

OR sit exam & if grade in Aug poor then will Appeal. Again no garuntee & grade likely to drag into Oct as Uni kids prioritised in timescale"

I think he'd rather sit the exam as he feels he 'may do better than a B & a C'.
I think there's no chance, even a pass might be hard. I've seen his recent past papers / sat with him as he iterates his notes (his choice, usually works well) & he's both frozen & panicking, guessing at stuff he actually knows.
So I imagine that we'd need to appeal which will just drag it out for him (with attendant effects on MH). So, it will be down to him of course & I think he WILL try to do his exam which I respect him for (but privately I'd prefer if he was just awarded the expected grades - though I don't know how seamless a process that is & I worry from what @MistressIggi says that 'there will not be enough' evidence or School will be out of line with SQA & then he will be stuffed.

OP your second option sounds better to me - if there is any issue with the quality of evidence available for the school to submit, that would apply just the same to any evidence submitted if you went for option A. I think there will be a lot of appeals and I wonder to what extent they will be carefully remarked, so again option B sounds better. I don't know if appealing because of illness is any different than the process of appealing because you didn't do as well on the day, but without a reason. Someone else might know on here?
Option C (with your ds doing a lot better than expected on the day) would obviously still be the best outcome.
I don't know their side of it obviously but almost no support for a student with the needs you describe seems very unfair.

Hi @mistressigi - do you mean option A: sit exam & do badly or B: not sit under 'exceptional circs' ?? Sorry to be dense, lots of family stuff going on today ...

@MistressIggi even (apologies) x

In terms of the evidence the school submits, whether for exceptional circumstances (so if DS does not attempt the exam on the day) or as an appeal (sits the exam, doesn't perform as estimated, appeal submitted in August) the process will actually be the same. The exact same evidence will be sent by the school and it will be reviewed (both in terms of quality/standard of assessment used and the marking of the work) by a team of the most senior and experienced markers for the subject. I can assure you it's a task taken very seriously by those involved.

We've never had appeals on the scale of this before though. Well, the potential scale - when have pupils/parents been able to decide to appeal themselves? I would anticipate large numbers this year and I don't see how these can all be marked from scratch in a timely manner.
I'm confused now too OP I think I was saying I would prefer the option of appealing having had a go at the exam. But depending how things are at the time that may not be possible, and you know that you have two possible approaches so that is reassuring at least.

I've finally had a convo with School (SQA administrator) as no reply to emails.
Was a bit sketchy but seems to be in line with the info you have given me above which I find far more reassuring.

I have emailed them with my account of that convo. I am not sure what else I can do but support Ds and hope he manages in on the day. No call or email from the Support Team despite the SQA person ref to an email they (haven't) sent (I mentioned in my email). Pah.

@52andBlue

How did your DS get on - hope all is a calm as it can be for you all.

@JustAnotherSod - Ds is doing ok thanks. He did struggle to process his Grandmothers death during his Highers . He starts S6 in 2 weeks but he's also considering College for an HND next year depending on his results.

Sorry to hear about the death of his grandmothers - I know it was expected but it is still such a difficult thing to go through. It is good to hear that he's doing ok - and that he has a number of options depending on how his results pan out.

Sending best wishes to you all - at least the stress of his exams is now past - even if it is just replaced by other stress about the results!