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Secondary education

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Original poster

A2 Exam Clash. Potential serious problem. Advice needed.

68 replies

hanginginthere1 · 10/03/2014 17:38

My daughter has an exam clash that could potentially mean that she does not do as well in her A2 exams as she could/should
She has 3 exams on one day, History, Biology[AS re sit] and General studies, followed by English Language the very next morning. A hefty work load.
Apparently, the rule is that the school will write to your chosen Uni if you have done 6 hrs' worth of exams. My daughter will have done 5hrs 45 mins! The Exams Officer is refusing to contact the University and is being rude, unhelpful and unsympathetic.
I find it difficult to believe that a student should have to complete this many exams in one go, and be expected to be able to give of their best.
My daughter has a very challenging offer to one of the country's top universities. In reality this will be difficult to achieve, but given this schedule it makes it nigh on impossible.
It's just so frustrating. General studies is just as important to her, as she need to maintain her A grade from AS in it.
Any advice?

OP posts:
Phaedra11 · 10/03/2014 22:36

LNAT not LHAT!

BerthaBeans · 10/03/2014 22:49

When I did AS Levels I had one day where my schedule included a day with a clash in the afternoon (all 3 hours worth of papers or thereabouts) and a paper the following morning. So my two day schedule consisted of:
Day 1 am: Subject A 3 hours
Lunch
Day 1 pm : Subject B 3 hours (Missing Subject C)
After which I was immediately whisked away and had to stay over with a teacher and not communicate with anyone overnight.
Day 2 am: Subject D 3 hours
Whisked away for supervised Lunchtime, before, finally
Day 2 pm: Subject C 3 hours.

So majorly stressful and no special consideration. It was the first year of the new AS exams and I think they were still sussing it all out for scheduling. Can't believe it still gets organised so badly now, staying at teachers' houses and expecting teenagers to remain without phones and be kept out of contact with the world, for so long!

TacitusMouse · 10/03/2014 22:53

BerthaBeans she isn't expected to. OP's DD just does three exams on one day and then one the next morning. Can contact who she likes overnight

Hobnobissupersweet · 10/03/2014 23:01

Your dd has done well on LNAT, however why is she resisting an AS bio exam, and why is she bothering. With general studies if she is so bright. There is no reason why the exams officer should ring the uni, and your supra defensive comments of you don't know my daughter, and how hard she has worked do not swing you any favours - all the good ones work hard!, and the better ones do not resit AS.

BackforGood · 10/03/2014 23:07

I have to agree with everyone else - from what I understand of your posts, she hasn't got a clash.
If I've read it right she (or you?) is bothering the exams officer when she is no doubt extremely busy, when there is nothing that the exams officer needs / is able to do for her. It's understandable if she was a bit short.
If she's going to do a course at a top university (or, to be honest, any university) then 3 exams on one day is unlucky, but par for the course, (especially if she is doing a resit), so if she can't manage it then you have to wonder how she's going to manage at University.
I too am from an age where O-levels had 3 hr exams, le alone A levels - am indeed quite amazed that you can take 3 x A-level exams and still have change from 6 hours Shock

Oh, and I have a ds doing A-levels, including a resit, this June and am still of the mindset that if you are doing A-levels, then you need to be able to perform under a bit of pressure.

Original poster
hanginginthere1 · 10/03/2014 23:45

Hobnob.....
She is bothering with General studies because her school have decided that all their Yr12 & 13 pupils have to do it.
She is re sitting Biology AS because she did not do well enough at it. She originally was doing Biol, Chem, as well as Hist and Eng lang. Struggled with the Chemistry, so dropped it. Kept on with Hist, eng and Biology. Biology is her weakest subject. She is on course to get her target grades in Hist and Eng however. still needs to get as good a grade as possible in Biology. Hence, it will be difficult to get in to KCL. I have already acknowledged that.

Your comments about 'all the good ones work hard, and the better ones do not re sit AS' are uncalled for, and personal.
You can disagree with me, but please do not be personal towards my daughter. No you do not know my daughter,and I am very glad I do not know you!
Such ignorance and how unkind.

OP posts:
noblegiraffe · 10/03/2014 23:54

I don't think you need to worry about this now as there is nothing you can do about it except help your DD prepare.

If she fails to meet her offer, then she can get on the phone to the Uni and argue her case. If that doesn't work, then she gave it her best shot.

longingforsomesleep · 11/03/2014 01:02

You implied in your original post that the exams officer was being unreasonable in refusing to contact the university because your daughter is doing 5hrs 45 minutes of exams which is pretty close to the 6 hour requirement. As others have said, the exams officer doesn't make the rules and if she made an exception for your dd, what would she say to the student doing 5hrs 30 minutes of exams? The line has to be drawn somewhere and wherever you draw it there will be students close to it. It is unreasonable and unfair to make exceptions.

He11y · 11/03/2014 07:13

If she has had to bust a gut to get this far and she doesn't meet the grades then maybe she isn't up to the course she is after.

That's not a criticism, just a realistic suggestion.

Trying to sneak in through the back door could be placing her in a situation she can't cope with academically or emotionally.

Also, at some point you will need to butt out and let her manage her own life. I really hope you won't start contacting staff at the uni she goes to...?

BeckAndCall · 11/03/2014 07:25

Exams are a stressy time for mums as well as the DC but I think you're over reacting. This schedule is not unusual at all - especially for students doing different subjects from different boards - there are exams all over the place with no consideration that they may do biology from one board on the same day as chem from another and Latin form another and so on. It happens all the time.

And experience, on here and from the exam officer, is that she will cope and it won't affect her chances.

And, quite frankly, general studies is not going to affect her chances in the other subjects at all, specially if she does it last that day - there's little prep she can do for it and the only risk is that her hand gets tired from writing so much! But I'm another one who thinks that 5 her 45 is not that long. At least she isn't having to be in lock down over night, which also happens everywhere at least once in exam season - for the exam officer, this situation is just not a big deal and you probably look very highly strung to her.

yangsun · 11/03/2014 07:29

I think the exams officer is doing you a favour by not contacting the uni. I think admissions tutors will be worried whether she'll cope with the course if they are contacted re something like this. After all it's hardly special circumstances and as others have mentioned it's very likely she will have to do a lot of closely packed exams at uni. I had my finals in one week: nine three hour exams, so my uni would certainly have thought I was not a great prospect if I had got someone to write in about having two A levels (or three shorter ones in your dd's case) in one day.

quirrelquarrel · 11/03/2014 07:35

If she has had to bust a gut to get this far and she doesn't meet the grades then maybe she isn't up to the course she is after.

Have you sat A levels and uni exams in the last five years? They are VASTLY different from each other and so are the courses. For a lot of people, you can't accurately measure their aptitude for coping at uni by looking at how they coped with A levels.

I really, really struggled with A levels (by a fluke managed to get good grades in the end) but I'm getting good grades at uni. And there are people who got brilliant grades at GCSE and A level but they're struggling now. One format does not fit all.
It's because A levels are prescriptive, narrow and you have to jump through lots of invisible hoops to tick those all important boxes that get you into Band 5 or whatever it is. It can be really difficult to get the hang of that. & VERY discouraging!

HolidayCriminal · 11/03/2014 10:39

Glad to hear she's happy with her 2nd choice. She's still an ambitious girl willing to work hard. Some of us would be very grateful to have offspring like that; regardless of which Uni they might get into or no Uni at all in many cases.

( now I'm waiting to be called ignorant & unkind for saying that )

Abra1d · 11/03/2014 10:41

My son did six hours of exams one day during GCSE and the school exams officer could do nothing, either. I think their hands are tied unless it's over six hours on one day.

Unfortunately one of his grades was lower than expected and I think it was because he was distracted with knowing he had so much to get through. But at GCSE we just let it go, having made our feelings known earlier.

Shootingatpigeons · 11/03/2014 11:47

My DD had a similar clash at A2 with four Science exams including Chemistry which she found tough and Psychology that required a lot of learning, in two days on the Monday and Tuesday after a day of two exams on Friday. It was indeed very stressful and prompted the first pre exam meltdown she has ever had, it was unfortunate but it never occurred to me that it was anything but an immovable object and something that happens. I also thought, though I would have preferred it not to have happened at A2, that we had been fortunate to get that far without experiencing a bad combination, not for instance one of the group who had a clash at GCSE and had to go home with a teacher so that the school could make sure they had no way of cheating before they sat the exam the next morning.

DD2 is dyslexic and dyspraxic and with extra time sat 6 hours of exams with a 15minute break (she could have taken longer but preferred the time wasn't lengthened) for one subject at AS last summer. Again it did not occur to me to query it, though having a DD with SpLDs I do have to be on the alert for them forgetting to provide the support they should. She was a physical wreck having had to write (she prefers that to wrestling with the basic word processing software on the laptop) for that period of time, her writing speed is in the lowest 10 per cent of the population. However there is clearly something about being in the zone and she got 100 % of the UMS.

So I'm a bit Hmm about your flounce........

DeWe · 11/03/2014 11:58

I'm astounded to find that the school write to the university for over 6 hours worth of exams. Hpwever I would also suspect that the university will totally ignore the letter anyway. Certainly unless the pupil just missed the grades and they were down on numbers anyway.

Is 6 hours that unusual in a day now? The exams used to be 3 hours, and as far as I remember most people had one day with two exams. Several people had a clash and ended up with 3 exams on one day (9-12, 1-4. 5-8) and I'm certain no notice was made of it. I had a clash at GCSE level and ended up with 6.5 hours on one day (1x 2.5hr, 2x 2hr) and I don't particularly remember it being extra stressful.

Northernlurker · 11/03/2014 11:59

I think people have been very harsh to the OP. Yes she was unreasonable in her orginal premis but come on - this is a stressful time of year and we all want the best for our kids. It's hard not to take it personally when people start rubbishing your child's resits and doubting their offer information.

OP - I wish you dd well. She can do this, she just needs to get past the panic about three exams. If she plans her revision well she can cover all the topics and maybe make herself some quick glance cards for a last minute reassurance before she goes in to each paper. A lot of general studies is general knowledge and thinking skills that you can only revise to a very limited degree in any case.

Martorana · 11/03/2014 12:05

Is it usual to get offers before AS level?

Lottiedoubtie · 11/03/2014 12:07

This is a total non issue. The OPs DD has exams during the examination period. As does everyone else. There is no reason that she can't do as well as her potential.

Do the general studies, if she is bright she will get the A with no revision anyway, it isn't hard to do!

Concentrate the work on the others and assuming she works hard and revises from now having them close together is neither here nor there.

cory · 11/03/2014 12:10

seconding Northernlurker

OP, I think your job is to speak in the deep reassuring maternal voice, make it clear to your dd that she can do this, that she will be fine, that it's just a question of planning her revision and doing some relaxing

teach her the tricks now, and she will be in a much better position not only to get into university but actually to cope with the pace when she does

FreshorangeforDd · 11/03/2014 12:12

I feel for you and your Dd OP. My Ds had similar with his GCSE subjects and he under performed in the third subject on the first day. It seems very unfair and the schools seem powerless to do anything. I believe there was a request for special consideration put in by the school for Ds's subjects for all pupils involved but it didn't seem to make any difference. They were not unusual subject combinations either but the different exam boards involved seemed to cause the problem. I recall a friend complaining that her Dc had one exam on every day. That seemed fabulous compared to five exams in two days, and much easier to maintain concentration and do well in. Good luck to your Dd.

rabbitstew · 11/03/2014 12:30

I would spend your energy trying to persuade your dd that it isn't really that bad and she can cope with it easily. At least it means she gets fewer sleepless nights!

AtiaoftheJulii · 11/03/2014 12:31

I'm astounded to find that the school write to the university for over 6 hours worth of exams.

I don't think they do. I think if you have over 6 hours of GCE exams, you can fill in a form to apply for special consideration, to be sent to the exam boards. This may result in you being awarded an allowance of 2%. See www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/a-guide-to-the-special-consideration-process, download and scroll down to pages 7/8. The OP's dd doesn't fall into any of these categories.

Slapperati · 11/03/2014 12:39

I don't believe in kicking an OP when she's down but OP if you are still reading the thread you would serve your DD well by toughening up and encouraging her to do so too, both for these exams and future university courses / careers.

I am also very skilled at supporting her and managing her stress levels! No doubt you are - but she will need to do it all by herself very soon.

Theas18 · 11/03/2014 12:40

Op it's annoying but not the end of the world. As Cory said lots of reassurance and " you can do it" and also "general studies WILL be fine" because, for an intelligent articulate person aware of world events, it will be ( or rather aware of world events 6 months or so ago when the paper was set! it wont be about the Ukraine!)

These things are sent to try us, but it wont be any better at uni !