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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

Extra time in GCSEs.....surely they should be in a separate room?

25 replies

PossumInAPearTree · 20/04/2017 12:18

Dd has just told me she wasn't in a different room for her mocks. So when everyone else finished they were talking and the teachers shouting at people to shut up, etc. She says it really put her off and she's worried it will be the same for her proper GCSEs.

She gets an extra 25%.

Should I ring the school and ask? What do I do if they say they can't have the extra time kids in a separate room? Insist? Or is it normal for them to all be together?

OP posts:

Seeline · 20/04/2017 12:21

In my day all exams taken the same day were all in the same hall so people could be doing different subjects at CSE, O level and A level so lots of different finish times.
It was drilled into us though that you just got up and went as soon as the invigilator said and didn't talk until well away from the hall.
I think different rooms for everyone doing different timings would be difficult to manage practically in terms of the number of rooms required and the number of invigilators.
Sounds like the other students need educating on exam etiquette.

Original poster

PossumInAPearTree · 20/04/2017 12:23

Maybe it's normal then. I just assumed it would be a separate room. Will just have to tell Dd to try and concentrate.

OP posts:

PlymouthMaid1 · 20/04/2017 12:24

The students need to sit quietly and then leave quietly unless they can provide a separate room but that probably isn't possible although it is worth asking about I think.

SuburbanRhonda · 20/04/2017 12:24

I was under the impression that everyone with special access arrangements for exams was in a separate room.

Ask the school - it may be that a room wasn't available for mocks and it'll be different for the real thing.

DataEducator · 20/04/2017 12:26

In my experience different schools do different things, but I think it is better that the school puts those with additional needs in a separate room.

There's no reason why they can't, however it could be the case that your school only has that space for exams, or because they were mock exams they saved on invigilation costs. I don't know but you, or your daughter should ask what the arrangements will be in the summer.

Original poster

PossumInAPearTree · 20/04/2017 12:28

Yes, think I will ring and ask and then at least she knows what to expect. Thanks.

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 20/04/2017 12:28

Nope, extra time doesn't usually mean a separate room - that would be expensive to staff! Kids on extra time at my school will normally be sat at the front of the exam hall so the kids will be leaving behind them rather than around them.

Separate rooms are usually reserved for kids who need to type, need a reader or a scribe or rest breaks, or ones who can't cope with the exam hall.

EvilTwins · 20/04/2017 12:34

Was going to say the same as Noble. We have separate rooms for those who need to use a word processor, anyone who needs a scribe and students who cannot cope with the main hall. It would be impractical to also separate those who have extra time - especially given that some of those might also need a word processor.

School needs to sort their routines though- students should not be talking at all until they are out of the hall and away.

whatwouldkatyactuallydonext · 20/04/2017 12:35

My son has extra time for exams as well as a scribe. I was really surprised when he said that for his gcse mocks he was in the same hall as everyone else, albeit on a mezzanine level. He said he and his LSA had to whisper- but I can't help but feel that this must be distracting for the other students, and also off-putting for my son. I will be bringing it up with the Senco at our next meeting, although I imagine it will boil down to a staffing level issue as these things normally do.

PurpleAlerts · 20/04/2017 12:39

Both of my DDs have extra time for exams ( one 10% + rest breaks if needed and the other 25% using a laptop) and they have always taken their exams in a different room.

TeenAndTween · 20/04/2017 12:40

The other students should be staying silent until they have left the exam room.

At my school, the whole school had 'exam silence' or something like that at exam time, which meant absolutely no talking in any of the corridors or outside classroom windows from 8:50-12 and something similar in the afternoons.

User2468 · 20/04/2017 12:42

When I did my exams, extra time and a private room were different requests. I'd been advised to have both so I got my extra time in a private room. Unless she's been advised to go in a private room you won't get one.

Looiloo79 · 20/04/2017 12:47

My students with extra time have a different room. It wouldn't be fair to put them in the hall with the disruptions at the end.

Definitely ring school and request it. They need to do what's best for your child

LIZS · 20/04/2017 12:54

Ds says they were all in main room for his, although laptop users and rest breaks were on the stage. This year dd thinks some are in a separate room, possibly due to numbers. You have exams of different durations occurring together and those whose exam finishes earlier just leave quietly.

Rosieposy4 · 20/04/2017 12:54

Ours are often in the main hall, achool just ned to insist on silence. In the real exams the others will almost certainly be dismissed whne they have finished, just leaving the extra time rows. Looiloo, the school needs to meet everyone's needs, including those of rooming and budgets, not just one individual

Allthebestnamesareused · 20/04/2017 13:22

I am an invigilator.

At the school I work in it varies.

If there are enough extra timers (which there may be for mainstream exams such as Maths/English) they may be in a different room if the ratios allow. (ie. 1:30 candidates generally or 1:20 when computer based).

If it is less well subscribed exam then they will be in same room.

Separate rooms would usually be for other reasons such as rest breaks which generally have a one to one as the invigilator would need to accompany them on the break too, or for scribes or readers.

I did work in one school where readers were on the mezzanine as mentioned above.

Indeed as someone said above sometimes there is more than one exam going on. One may be for 90 mins, one for 120 mins, one for 45 mins. In the mocks the kids are definitely more noisy at leaving despite repeated requests to leave in silence. In the real thing they tend to be more respectful.

lacebell10 · 22/04/2017 22:45

Ask for your child to be placed furthest from the door regardless of what order the rest are sitting on in. It will help minimise the distraction to them as others get up and leave.

Chillywhippet · 22/04/2017 23:39

DD used to be mainly in big hall so at the end f the exam someone would say
"Your time is up, part from those of you entitled to extra time and are choosing to use it."
Once she was in a quiet room doing AS statistics. Just one other boy in the room doing GCSE history. When the exam started the reader/scribe began, "the American civil rights movement...."
DD would have been better off in noisy hall.

It has got much harder to get extra time in school. When they get to college/uni it is easier to get support IME

BasiliskStare · 23/04/2017 00:22

DS ( at school) , used a laptop , extra 25% time - he ( and others similar) sat at the front of the exam hall and others behind left quietly. University , ( larger cohort), separate room.

Sostenueto · 25/04/2017 10:34

My gdd has her mocks for year 10 next month. She is doing triple science and has a half hour longer paper but will be in the same hall as the double science students. Looks like she will have to endure a lot of disruption as the others (who are in the majority) leave the exam room.

AlletrixLeStrange · 25/04/2017 10:53

I was in a separate room for mine with everyone else who had extra time (I didn't have extra time, was very pregnant and need frequent loo trips).
I'd be very disrupted by people leaving.
Definitely ask about it.

mummytime · 25/04/2017 11:21

In my DCs school extra time is definitely in the main exam hall. But they tend to be grouped together, and the others leaving hasn't been an issue as far as I'm aware.

If they were disruptive in a mock, then I would expect the whole cohort to get some nagging about leaving in silence etc.

There are often more than one exam being sat at the same time, with different finish times, and sometimes people who have to be chaperoned after finishing their first, as they then had a brief break before sitting a paper that most had sat at the same time as their first one.
I got most complaints afterwards at invigilators who wouldn't let them leave without taking their full extra time.

Peanutbutterrules · 25/04/2017 13:50

My DD gets extra time but is in with everyone else. She arrives early for the exam and the rest come in quietly.

I'd email the school raising the issue of noise - I expect things will be stricter for the real thing.

AlexanderHamilton · 25/04/2017 16:01

The extra time/scribe/laptop etc kids are all in a separate room at ds's school.

LadyPenelope68 · 25/04/2017 16:06

If it's just basic extra time then no they are just in the same room, but usually sat furthest away from the door. If they have a scribe, PC, iPad, rest breaks, reader etc they are usually the reasons they would be in a separate room.

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