Distracting invigilators during A level paper today - any advice please?

[GnomeDePlume]

DD sat her Core 3 Maths A level paper today. She is very unhappy.

Throughout the exam the invigilators whisper chatted to each other. To add to this, one of the invigilators' mobile phone went off and was not silenced and allowed to ring through.

Just in case this couldnt get worse another invigilator came into the room 20 minutes before the end and joined in the whisper chatter.

Unfortunately the invigilators were sat just a foot in front of DD so she (DD) found this incredibly distracting when she was trying to concentrate. The distraction was so bad that DD was unable to complete the exam in the time.

This is not a subject DD is struggling with and was hoping for an A*. She is a diligent student and has sat many practice papers, completing them to a very high standard with time to spare.

If need be she can retake the paper next year while studying Further Maths.

DD has informed the Exams Officer of this very poor practice. Is there any recourse available to her?

Do any wise MNetters have advice please?

titchy
Because often there are revision sessions on for other subjects and associated room changes. And the amount of children needing access arrangements is often more than the 9/10 classes of y11 that have left (so more rooms needed than available + rooms have to be blocked out for 3 hours so and requires other groups being shuffled)

We have a level students so we have a bit more flexibility and can use some of the 6th form teaching space, set certain classrooms as exam rooms etc and SLT give up their offices (sometimes we even remove pastoral offices!).

It's a whole different set of needs e.g reader, scribe, reader and scribe, word processing, rest breaks, time out the room, separate setting out of the hall with others, separate setting entirely independent.

It's not difficult to see how a smaller 11-16 school may find it difficult which is why it's reasonable for some access arrangements to be in with others. E.g. rest breaks at the back of the hall / word processing all in one room

Just in case this couldnt get worse another invigilator came into the room 20 minutes before the end and joined in the whisper chatter

Just noticed this - I worked in a university, and no student was allowed to leave within the first half hour or the last half hour of the exam because those are times when it is particularly difficult for other students to cope with any distraction which interrupts their flow of thought.

For a third person to enter the room 20 minutes before the end and join in what appears to have been a general conversation, is appalling!

user1497480444 I organise exam access arrangements for a large FE College. All candidates using readers or scribes are accommodated in separate rooms and readers and scribes can act as invigilators as stated in the current JCQ guidelines.

This used not to be the case but has been for several years. Sometimes we do have to kick staff out of their offices and when we do this yes we are able to set up the room to ensure they meet exam standards.

You need to look at the current JCQ guidelines which will be updated again in August. To have several scribes in one room is appalling bad practice.

We have dealt with the exams officer many times over the years and have always found her very professional.

When DD said she hadn't been on site today I did wonder if it was because she was down in the basement ritually strangling the two main culprits! DD approached her on the day and she took DD's comments very seriously. I am confident DD will get a fair hearing from the exams officer even if special consideration isn't possible.

Glad that went well.

In 20 years I have also never known an exam where there were scribes talking.

Invigilators whispering is totally distracting.

the invigilators were sat just a foot in front of DD

they were 12 inches away from your daughter ?? [hmm}
I think it is an excuse for cocking up!

This year JCQ have added into their training/ instruction that if candidates are in separate rooms with scribes / readers then there should also be a roving invigilator checking on all rooms.

They have also always been clear that students don't need their own room - obv not the standard exam hall but a large area such as a library where students and their scribes / readers can be seated with distance between them - I can't remember the exact wording from the video but it's something about this being OK as it's part of the normal hum of the room. That's v different however from a couple of people sat in front of you having a chat.

Our year 11 has a very very high number of students with access arrangements and we accommodate them in a number of ways - we use our library which is massive for the majority of readers / scribes, another large room for those with laptops and so on. I think we only had 2 students this year who we put in their own room and they had very specific needs and access arrangements which allowed rest breaks.

User add some numbers
*the invigilators were sat just a foot in front of DD

they were 12 inches away from your daughter ?? [hmm}
I think it is an excuse for cocking up!*
I think this is fairly regular for A' level and using a classroom. Proximity is not a problem, invasive noise can be.

From the regulations:

5.5.8 The centre is responsible for ensuring that the candidate and reader cannot be overheard by, or distract, other candidates. (This will also apply if the candidate uses a computer reader.) Where the candidate and reader are accommodated in another room, on a one to one basis, the invigilator may additionally act as the reader.
5.5.9 Readers may work with more than one candidate, but must not read the paper to a group of candidates at the same time, as this imposes the timing of the paper on the candidates.
Where candidates require only occasional words or phrases to be read, three or four candidates may share one reader. The candidate will need to put their hand up or use a card (see the sixth example on page 7) when he/she needs help with reading. If the group is accommodated in another room a separate invigilator will be required.

-

Clearly shows individual rooms not required. I think the only case where they are required is when a candidate has an oral language modifier.

I'd be bloody fuming. Whispering is way more distracting as you need to waste more concentration trying to nosey.
I had an invigilator fall asleep. He was no trouble at all!

Well, DD sat Core 4 today. Different invigilators thankfully.

DD spoke with the Exams Officer who is going to apply for special consideration for the whole group in the exam hall. She isnt promising anything as the noise was persistent rather than loud.

Interestingly there are rumours going around that the Core 3 paper was leaked in advance.

If I were the Head ofMaths I'd be fuming at this.