Extra time in exams

[CloudsAndTrees]

Hoping there will be some secondary school teachers or knowledgable people around that can help me.

My ds has Aspergers, is in Y8, and has been been assessed by an Ed Psych as having a well below average processing speed. He does well academically though and is doing well at school.

I have spoken to the SENCO at his school, she says she knows he will need extra time in exams, but he hasn't been allowed the extra time for the exams he took today, or yesterday. I'm told this is because they need to gather evidence of his need for extra time to present to the examination boards when he does his GCSEs.

I was slightly miffed but ok with this when they first told me, I figured they knew what they were doing, and ds was ok with it too. But now I have a child who is upset that he hasn't been able to finish any of the four exams he has done so far because he knows he won't get a grade as high as he deserves, and the more I think about it, the more it seems unfair.

Do they really need to disadvantage him in some exams to prove he needs it in others? Is there some other way they could obtain this evidence? What sort of evidence do they actually need? I'd have thought the Ed Psych report would be enough.

How unreasonable would I be to insist that he is graded on the work he managed to finish, rather than on the exam overall?

Sorry for all the questions!

[Leonas]

It is important that the school has evidence of what he can do with extra time and without or it might not be approved by the qualification authority. I teach in Scotland but I assume this will be the case in England too.
It is difficult for pupils and teachers as we know it is frustrating for the students to have to sit exams at a disadvantage but without the evidence the Educational Psychologist can't agree to them actually needing the extra time.

[zamantha]

support the school with this - they need evidence. Once set up will really help. My DS has extra time and a seperate room which really helps at AS - used to be lots of boys with him .but they mostly left after GCSes - my son is bright but needs extra time.