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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

GCSE remark or script request

18 replies

creamteas · 26/08/2012 10:04

DD2 has SEN and in most exams has a scribe as she has very poor motor control and her writing is extremely bad and slow. But of course for language exams she can't have a scribe, just extra time.

She sat her GCSE French reading exam this summer and has done much worse than expected. I know French isn't a strong subject, and that might account for it. But I'm also wondering if it was just that they couldn't read her answers.
What I'd like to know is whether or not it was her French or her writing or both .

If we just request a copy of the script, and then find it is the writing, is there likely to be time to ask for a remark assuming they could find someone who could read it?

OP posts:

BeingFluffy · 26/08/2012 10:07

I would speak to the school and ask their opinion. I thought the reading was a multiple choice? Therefore not sure how helpful the script would be.

Loshad · 26/08/2012 10:09

yes there should be time to get photocopied script back and then ask for remark. Don't know the actual time deadlines I'm afraid - leave that to the exam officer but would expect you to need to ask for script back this week. good thing is that bit is quite cheap.

Original poster

creamteas · 26/08/2012 10:23

Thanks, I did try to speak to the school on Friday, but they were really busy with the Year 11s, understandably.

My DD said it was short written answers. I'll ask for a copy. Even if it was the French, knowing where she went wrong has got to help surely :)

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 26/08/2012 10:27

The Edexcel website says:

As with other UK exam boards, we're not allowed to send out a copy of your paper until after the re-mark deadline has passed. This means that if you are considering getting your paper re-marked you should request this service instead. Your exams officer can ask us to send a copy of your re-marked paper.

So you can't get a copy of the paper and then ask for it to be remarked.

Original poster

creamteas · 26/08/2012 10:43

Thanks that's helpful, I was looking at OCR details and didn't see that.

I'll try to get hold of her French teacher on Tuesday and see whether or not she thinks it is worth a remark, and if not we'll just request the script for later.

OP posts:

goinggetstough · 26/08/2012 10:52

noble last summer we definitely were able to pay to get a photocopy of my DS's AS script. His teachers then looked at it and then we decided to pay for a remark. That was with OCR. So maybe it is different for different exam boards?

noblegiraffe · 26/08/2012 10:55

No, going, it's different for level 3 qualifications, you can't do it for GCSE with any exam board.

CharminglyOdd · 26/08/2012 10:57

OP, could your daughter have a kind of copying scribe... not sure if it's totally allowed (although I have seen scribes doing it once or twice on an informal basis) but presumably she's not allowed a scribe so that they can check she knows all the spellings/accents etc. Could she write her answers out and then have a scribe who knows her (like a TA? They have worked as scribes in our school) so is vaguely familiar with her handwriting, copy it out using the extra time so that the marker can read it?

Original poster

creamteas · 26/08/2012 11:31

If it is her writing I'm going to see what other arrangements can be put in place. I think it is possible to take the exam then afterwards dictate letter by letter the answers that were written which sounds very tedious.

When I was asking the SENCO about what normally happens with access arrangements for French, she said it hadn't been an issue before as usually those who need scribes don't chose languages . Which is of course another issue entirely......

OP posts:

Dominodonkey · 26/08/2012 12:22

creamteas she should be able to use a word processor if that would help her. (they disable spell check etc) 2 or 3 of my students have done this.

There is no way she would be allowed a 'copying scribe', far too much potential for cheating.

stoatie · 26/08/2012 13:19

Like domino donkey says - can she have word processor. My son has appalling handwriting - has always struggled with his pen grip (he is left handed) and writing - it was recognised at school that examiners would struggle to decipher his handwriting - or if he printed all his letters to make it legible he would run out of time . He was allowed to use a word processor for all his exams - and I believe he had extra time as well.

knittedslippersx3 · 26/08/2012 13:28

I think all exam boards might be different. Priority re-mark deadlines have passed. I have requested a copy of dd history script and the school are going to look at it and decide if it should be re-marked. If so, the school will put it in for me and if the grade goes up there is no charge. The deadline for this is 20th September.

noblegiraffe · 26/08/2012 13:46

You can only do that for level 3 qualifications (e.g. AS/A-level), not GCSE.
At GCSE you can request a remark, and then receive a copy of the remarked script, or you can just request the script, but you will receive it after the deadline for remarking.

If you have a look here these are the guidelines that apply to all exam boards. On page 5 it clearly says 'Concerned but want to see script before going to EaR? (i.e. a remark) service for GCE only'

Zippylovesgeorge · 26/08/2012 13:50

Would being able to type her answers help? My son has dyspraxia and was allowed to use a laptop for his english and history exams.

CharminglyOdd · 26/08/2012 16:05

That's what I get for writing before I drink coffee I used a word processor in all my exams (different SEN though) and for languages I word processed, printed (under supervision) then was allowed to go through the script adding appropriate accents that weren't available as shortcuts. I think nowadays you can get an add-on to Word that will let you use symbols (normally everything is disabled and it's like writing in Notepad) but finding the correct symbol can take a while if you aren't familiar with it.

cardibach · 26/08/2012 16:12

If it was a reading paper, then she should have been able to have a scribe. At least, you can in English - a scribe but no reader for the reading paper, and a reader but no scribe for the writing paper.

noblegiraffe · 26/08/2012 16:37

charming you can get 'copying scribes'! They can annotate a photocopy of a script to clarify it, or can copy out the whole thing. The marker is supposed to still mark the script with bad handwriting but refer to the clarified version as necessary. But they prefer people to use word processors as obviously that's a complete faff.

CharminglyOdd · 26/08/2012 22:45

Thanks noble. TBH I have invigilated so many SEN exams (as well as sitting as a candidate) that it all blurs together I think, possibly, I have seen a scribe in a language exam (now cardibach has mentioned it) and the rule was that the candidate had to emphasise punctuation... that is technically the rule for English exams as well, e.g. "Capital letter, Tom sat on the bench, full stop."
For my Maths exams, to get over the annotation/word processor bits, I had a Maths graduate (hired from a support agency) who would write the symbols I asked for and scribe the calculations. He would also copy as I went if I asked.

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