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Original poster

Missed AS Level

19 replies

Moondog123 · 14/05/2014 08:01

My daughter missed the spoken element of her French AS Level (not her fault - mine - she was so anxious about her ability that in my wisdom I decided the very thing would be a weekend in Paris and guess what we had a plane break down on the runway and were eventually flown back too late for her to sit this element) and now her school are saying she cannot reschedule but must defer it until next year. She wants to do Philosophy and French at uni and her application won't look very good with this bit missing. Does anyone have experience of this? Can I persuade the school to do better? My poor girl has been no end of trouble over the past few years and is in the process of being diagnosed ASD, and I'm getting the feeling that the school is not being helpful because of her history.

OP posts:
ajandjjmum · 14/05/2014 08:05

I would speak direct to the exam board - maybe not the best thing to do (don't know if it would be bad 'politically'), but it's what I'd do.

Original poster
Moondog123 · 14/05/2014 08:07

Thanks - I've emailed OCR but I'm going into school this morning to see if they can be persuaded to play nice..

OP posts:
JohnnyBarthes · 14/05/2014 08:08

Presumably it's not that the school won't reschedule, but that the exam board won't. But yes, I imagine the exam board are the people to talk to.

JohnnyBarthes · 14/05/2014 08:09

Presumably it's not that the school won't reschedule, but that the exam board won't. But yes, I imagine the exam board are the people to talk to.

fourcorneredcircle · 14/05/2014 19:40

It's not the school that need to play nice, it's the exam board. You are very unlikely to get any movement on this. It's a risky move flying back the day of an assessment as unfortunately you have found out.

sunflower69 · 14/05/2014 19:55

Schools have between 15 March and 15 May to do the MFL orals for OCR. The deadline for sending everything off is tomorrow, so it would be worth emailing the exams officer and the head of MFL tonight and asking whether she can do her exam first thing in the morning.

LeBearPolar · 14/05/2014 20:01

It's a bit much saying that you want to persuade the school to do better and play nice. In what way is this their fault? Hmm

BobPatandIgglePiggle · 14/05/2014 20:05

The school don't need to play nice and, tbh if you go in with that attitude you'll get no help.
I very much doubt the exam board will be able to d anything.

fourcorneredcircle · 14/05/2014 20:48

LeBearPolar and BobPatandIgglePiggle well done for having the guts to say what I didn't...

lunar1 · 14/05/2014 20:57

I can't imagine your dd will be less anxious after all this. Maybe a delayed test would be better than rushing it tomorrow and getting a poor result.

Hobnobissupersweet · 14/05/2014 23:28

you honestly thought it was a good idea to go away for a weekend at this stage of the AS exams Hmm words fail me

JohnnyBarthes · 15/05/2014 12:46

I can see the reasoning behind it - a complete change of scenery and so on. Somewhere nearer to home would probably have posed a smaller risk, but I'm guessing OP realises this.

Can you do resits in the autumn these days?

ajandjjmum · 15/05/2014 13:11

I thought the reasoning was that the DD would be in Paris, which would presumably be helpful for her French Oral?

crazymum53 · 15/05/2014 14:45

There are no January resits for A levels any more so the next chance to re-take will be next year.
Unfortunately I don't expect either the exam board or school to be sympathetic if you have missed an exam for this reason rather than illness.
I would find out what happens now that she has missed this exam OP i.e. would she be given a zero mark or an estimated value based on previous teacher assessment.
HTH

LeBearPolar · 15/05/2014 16:34

In order to be given an estimated value, I think the school would have to put in a bid for special consideration. I've only known it happen because a candidate couldn't sit due to illness rather than not being able to get back from holiday on time, so I assume that your DD will simply receive 0 for that module of the exam, I'm afraid.

Original poster
Moondog123 · 19/05/2014 07:38

Thanks all.. I do accept that it wasn't my best idea, however her French did improve and she found her listening element of the AS to be easier as she'd heard a lot of different accents in Paris. The school has got an agreement from the exam board to mark her oral on the basis of her listening and reading element and the oral results of the others in the group - we have to provide evidence of the delay and all will be fine in the end. Next time I have a brilliant plan I'll be careful not to go off pop with it..

OP posts:
ChocolateWombat · 19/05/2014 14:39

I think you have been treated more than fairly here.
Exam dates are set nearly a year in advance and there cannot be flexibility. Most papers are written and if someone takes it late (or an oral) the questions will be leaked and then you have an unfair exam. This is why, when there are clashes, children have to be kept in isolation, sometimes overnight, to protect the integrity of the exam.
Every year people miss exams. A common reason is they think the exam was in the afternoon, but it was in the morning. Schools and colleges try to contact missing candidates and they can start late,to a certain point, but beyond that, there is nothing that can be done.

Original poster
Moondog123 · 19/05/2014 14:54

I agree, we've had an absolute result. I must say we weren't trying to fly home the same day as the exam! Not even I would come up with that.

OP posts:
JohnnyBarthes · 19/05/2014 18:54

Glad to hear it's being sorted :)

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