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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

School messed up badly - what happens

129 replies

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 19:54

I didn't expect to find myself asking for advice like this...

DS1 is currently sitting his GCSEs. Today at around 4pm his school phoned both my wife and myself to tell us he had missed an exam. We both said that he didn't have an exam today and suggested the school might be getting him mixed up with another pupil with the same surname. It turns out the exam board (AQA) issued a revised exam timetable for DS1 in February but the school failed to pass it on to him. It has sat in teacher's folder for the last 3 months. The timetable they did give him was missing three papers, one of which was today.

I rushed DS1 into school and he sat the paper but he was starting over 4.5 hours late on a 1 hour paper. I pointed out to the school that their failure has undermined his ability to prepare for this exam. They brushed this off saying he will have been revising in class. However, my son has pointed out to me that they have been revising for Module 2 of this exam and this was Module 1, which he is retaking because he failed it last year. He also now knows he has another exam on Thursday which he was not expecting and which is also a retake. He now has less than 2 days to revise the entire Module 1 syllabus for this subject.

The school is unclear whether my son will get any marks at all for this module. Even if he does, the maximum uplift under "special consideration" is 5%. My son feels this is grossly inadequate. There were two 4-mark questions on subjects that he knew he had to revise. He was unable to answer these questions at all. There was also a 6-mark question on a subject he intended to revise. He believes the lack of revision cost him at least 2 marks on this question. Overall he believes that this has cost him at least 15%-20% of the marks on this paper. If he is right, even if AQA accept his paper and give him 5% extra (which appears to be the best case scenario) he will end up being penalised for the school's failure, possibly being knocked down a grade or more from the grade he would have got if the school had got it right.

I will clearly be taking this up with the school once exams are over. However, I can't see anything in the regulations that covers this kind of situation. Does anyone have any experience? How will AQA handle this? Is there anything I should do?

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 16/05/2017 21:08

Knowingly how highly strung my Y11s are at the moment, this must be awful for your DS. He must be very shocked and will need a lot of careful handling. Poor boy.

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 21:11

Thanks for the supportive comments.

I'm calming down a bit now!

As I said up thread, my son noticed that Physics, Chemistry and Biology were completely missing from his first exam timetable. When he received a revised timetable he saw that these subjects were present and made the mistake of assuming it was right. It appears his school didn't tell him that he needed to check it again and he didn't notice that the timetable only listed Module 2 for each subject.

He tells me he has only been looking a week ahead for revision purposes so would not have noticed the error for a few more weeks.

I have absolutely no idea why the school didn't contact my son while the exam was still running. If they had contacted us before 1.30pm we would have got him in before the exam finished. He still wouldn't have been properly prepared but at least we could have been certain his marks would have counted.

OP posts:

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 21:21

Can I ask what actual Science GCSEs he is doing? Should it be Science A and Additional Science?

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 21:23

It is outrageous that you weren't contacted sooner.

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 21:25

Is he retaking Science A

This is for Science: Double Award. As I understand it from the AQA website this paper is 16.67% of the total marks. As long as he doesn't have to pass all papers he should still be able to pass overall, although this may push him down a grade. I can't find anything

This is why, when we hand out timetables, we make the students sign a copy to hand back to exams officer, to say they have checked and confirmed it is correct. If they spot any errors at that time, we get them to sign any future timetables as well

He had to sign for his original timetable. The school don't get pupils to sign for updates.

Can I just check, did your DS know his teacher had spotted the error and was looking into getting it fixed. Did he too, forget to ask for his revised timetable or did he not know he needed to receive a new one?

No, he didn't know his teacher had spotted the error so he didn't know he needed a new revised timetable. He thought the first revised timetable was it.

For what it is worth, his "failure" last year was actually a grade D for Module 1. He chose to retake these modules to try and get a better overall grade. It will be gutting if it actually leads to him getting a lower grade overall.

OP posts:

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 21:26

The IGCSE?

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 21:32

Sorry - didn't finish my first paragraph.

I was going to say "I can't find anything that says he needs to pass all papers". I've now found a statement in the specification that says a candidate's grade is determined solely by their overall mark. There is no requirement to achieve the grade boundary in each paper to achieve a particular grade overall. So, looking at the marking scheme, loss of all the points on this paper looks like it would probably cost him one grade. If the paper is marked the lack of preparation will probably only cost him if he is near a grade boundary.

OP posts:

TalkinPeece · 16/05/2017 21:34

Oh my goodness prh what an utter nightmare.

I admit, I have to ask the question of he school - 4pm
say what ?
Did they not do a register?
Did they not spot the empty desk in the hall?
If they had called you as soon as his desk was noted empty you could have got him into the building while the others were still in the room and thus he'd have been allowed to sit it on arrival.

On the flip side, if he'd not revised the work there are small mercies to him having not sat the exam today.

Sadly I agree that the next session will be your best bet.
But a written apology from the relevant SLT staff will focus their minds to make sure information gets to pupils properly.

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 21:35

The IGCSE?

Sorry - just realised I'm looking at the wrong thing. Hang on...

OP posts:

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 21:35

You can definitely miss a paper and still grade, and with the IGCSE double award, the contribution of each paper is less than in the current GCSEs, so, silver lining- ish.

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 21:37

If the school are trying to get the paper marked I am surprised you have not been involved in the paperwork.

Lancelottie · 16/05/2017 21:49

I can absolutely see how he could have missed knowing when it was. DS had 27 exams in total over the GCSE period -- it would be so easy to miss a couple of modules.

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 21:50

Ok, I'm having trouble relating this to the AQA website. He says it is Double Science. The exam code is BL1HP. He is doing Module 1 and Module 2 in B, C and P - BL1HP, BL2HP, CH1HP, CH2HP, PH1HP, PH2HP. He says he also did three ISAs but he thinks only one of them has to be handed in to AQA.

OP posts:

Tissunnyupnorth · 16/05/2017 21:50

Exams officer here. Firstly AQA clearly state that if a student is more than 15 minutes late for an exam, their paper cannot be accepted. We had two students appear 30 mins into the B1 module this afternoon and they were turned away. After every exam, the Exam Officer needs to include a report with the registers/scripts, noting any incidents that have taken place during the Exam. I would be very surprised if your Exams Officer included your DS's script with the others, without making a note of the circumstances. They have however, broken AQA board rules, by letting him sit it later, so I am not sure how they would have explained themselves! I would ask your Exam Officer what has been reported to AQA. It is feasible that they have just decided to include his script with the others, without informing AQA. This is quite a serious breach of protocol, but if they have done this, his new mark for the module will stand.

With regards his Exam timetable, it is a grey area. Most schools will require a student to sign & return their timetable and then it is the students responsibility to get themselves to their exams. Your DS's timetable was incorrect and he was waiting for a new one. His new one had the subject on but not all the modules. He has sat the B1, P1 & C1 modules before, so he should really have looked for them on the timetable.

However, exam boards, AQA especially, can be very sympathetic. It depends if the school take responsibility for the timetable error and if they have confessed to the board about his late sitting. I suggest you speak to the school Exam Officer tomorrow and clarify how they have presented his script.

CarrieBlue · 16/05/2017 21:54

He's doing Science A and Additional Science. Today's exam counts towards the Science A grade and will not affect his Additional (module 2) grade. Unfortunately, his Science A grade will be affected.

TeenAndTween · 16/05/2017 21:58

There will be need to be 1 ISA for the Core science, and another one for the Additional science. (I don't know whether the ISA from last year will count or not for the core or whether he would have had to do a new one?)

HP tagged on the end of each code means Higher Paper.

The B1 will count for 25% of the core gcse mark, as it comprises B1, C1, P1, ISA each at 25%.

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 22:01

Thanks CarrieBlue. That explains why I couldn't work it out! I was looking for a single qualification.

That's good to hear.

From speaking to them today I believe they intend to take full responsibility for the timetable error and confess to the board about his late sitting. I will follow this up with them and confirm their intentions.

OP posts:

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 22:01

Those codes are not for Double Award Science (IGCSE, which has no ISAs), but the 6 modules that make up 2 separate GCSEs; Science A and Additional Science. These are commonly referred to as "double science", but are dealt with separately. B1 will make up 25% of the Science A GCSE grade, which is why it is very important to find out what is happening to the paper.

As this is a resit, did he take Science A last year?

As the pp said, this paper absolutely should not be sent off without the school notifying the exam board of the circumstances. We have had very late arrivals. We have taken statements from parents saying no access to electronic devices, informed the board and awaited their decision.

TheFallenMadonna · 16/05/2017 22:02

X post with lots!

KittyVonCatsington · 16/05/2017 22:05

Very useful post from Tissunnyupnorth there.

Ah, so he didn't fully check his second timetable when he received it. Easily done but it does mean he is partly at fault here. Just thinking that your DS's school may then use that as their get out clause. if the teacher hadn't spotted the error, he wouldn't have got a third timetable anyway. Put it in writing, your complaint, so that they don't fob you off.

Also, wasn't he the only one re-sitting so was he the only student they were expecting?

A huge catalogue of errors here. Good luck in following this up-your DS's school needs to look at its exams procedures-a few dodgy issues, to say the least!

TeenAndTween · 16/05/2017 22:13

I'm guessing maybe the y10s were all taking it too?

Or maybe not with the switch to the new syllabus? (Which might tie in with no additional revision sessions for it?)

CotswoldStrife · 16/05/2017 22:13

I am also aghast at the school not notifying you until 4.00pm! This does make me think that they didn't even realise themselves that he should have been there - I wonder when they discovered their mistake.

Must be very stressful for you all especially a helpful poster like yourself

wannabestressfree · 16/05/2017 22:14

I also can't understand why they didn't ring before. It's panic stations when we know students are missing... perhaps you could ask why?
My son is sitting (first exam tomorrow) gcse's and he is only getting 5% consideration and I have a terminal tumour. They are strict- I was told there might be some leeway if I died

Original poster

prh47bridge · 16/05/2017 22:19

As this is a resit, did he take Science A last year

Yes he did. Got a D and is trying to improve.

I don't know whether the ISA from last year will count or not for the core or whether he would have had to do a new one

I think I'm right in saying he did 3 ISAs this year and they were only going to send in the best one but it may be they were going to send in the best two. If he ends up getting zero for today's paper it is a shame they can't take last year's B1 and combine it with this year's C1 and P1! It wouldn't be great but it would be better than zero!

We have taken statements from parents saying no access to electronic devices, informed the board and awaited their decision

I am sending an email to the school to see if they want any kind of statement from me.

Also, wasn't he the only one re-sitting so was he the only student they were expecting

He was the only one re-sitting but this year's Y10 were also sitting this exam. So no, he wasn't the only student they were expecting. The timing of the phone calls suggests they didn't notice he was missing until after the exam. If they noticed earlier they certainly didn't do anything about it.

OP posts:

harderandharder2breathe · 16/05/2017 22:24

The school have majorly messed up and you're right he wouldn't have been revising in class for a resit.

However surely he knew he was resitting it so should've been revising at home?

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