Does Terrible Handwriting Cost Marks In GCSE Exams?

[AlwaysHungryAlwaysTired]

Just that, really.

Thanks in advance.

I expect it will if it is illegible.

English teacher here.

No but it might cause a problem of understanding - if the examiner can't read your ideas they can't reward them. They are told to work hard to decipher though.

I mark scripts - I try hard to decipher poor hand writing but honestly, after spending 5+ hours marking scripts after a full day's teaching for the the grand sum of £2.46 per script (before tax and NI) I will not spend an overly long time on 'difficult to mark responses' and may award zero rather than spend a huge amount of time trying to guess the word. Luckily in my subject I mark questions randomly in batches so will mark 180 x 2a) etc and not have to face a whole illegible script in one go.

Exam marking is great CPD but not well paid at all.

Yes, it does. There has been research into this.

Exam concessions of laptops can be provided if handwriting impedes communication.

Unfortunately my own DS has had to wait until year 12 until someone cared enough to help.

You aren't specifically penalised for poor handwriting, but if the examiner (who will have hundreds of scripts to mark, for not very much money) can't read your writing, then you simply won't get the marks.

I have marked whole scripts and there is a process to "send to review" those that really are completely illegible. This means they get sent to a more senior examiner.
If your dcs writing really is that bad then the school should really have had them tested by now so that a laptop can be used.
Please make sure that your dc uses a black pen as one cause of illegibility for computer marking is candidates writing in blue ink!

OP, ask the school's Learning Support or SEN to assess your child. If he fits the Joint Council for Qualifications criteria and the school apply for access arrangements for him he will most probably be allowed to type external exams. Call the school rather than email and ask to talk to the appropriate person. Insist politely that he be accessed. If no result, write politely to the head.

Echo others, if it can't be read it won't gain marks.

How bad is it Op and what year? If he/she is in KS4, speak to the senco asap as concessions for exams are based on what usually happens - ie he uses a laptop in class normally so may use one in exams etc.

Its a shame but understandable

I do wonder if ds1 would have done slightly better in his gcses with better writing or a laptop

Laptops can produce worse results : they often don't use capital letters when typing and forget to paragraph or punctuate at all

Some students type slowly, too.

First thing is to experiment with different pen types, although' ink' pens are now not allowed in exams

It took until y11 for the message to sink into my otherwise very bright and not in the slightest dyspraxic ds1 that what he wrote was meaningless if it couldn't be read. His handwriting was atrocious - mainly through laziness and an arrogance that others should take time the time to decode his brilliance but his teachers stopped making the effort to decipher to demonstrate what would happen come exam time ... it worked ... he actually practised his writing and came away with a fantastic set of results. It had only taken since y4...

I agree that some students struggle with laptops and if they are dyslexic, then the overall poor spelling and sentence structure issues are not solved by this, if anything, they are more visible. Some answers are also very short.

I would plan and test out if a laptop was better if you can before insisting on one. And, get the child to touch type or at least type fast.

This is why assessment by the school's learning support officer would be best. There are many different ways to help the child; typing, extra time, even a scribe (adult to write exam for them) in extreme cases.

Shame that teachers pay so little attention to neat handwriting these days. I gave up mentioning it to teachers from the start of primary school as ever single one has made some glib comment such as "that's boys for you" or "you should see some of the others". Now, aged 16 and a few months away from his GCSEs the school has suddenly woken up and are starting to warn him about neatness and illegibility ! Why did none of the teachers bother in the previous 10 years when there was the time to improve - now it's the usual last minute panic. (Yes, we've tried and tried with him ourselves, but his answer has always been that the teachers are fine with it so he basically ignored us and refused to do practice etc for us).

piggy

Appreciate your point although laptop appeared to work with my child

So yes i think that what you and inthedeep are saying is completely correct

Its best to look into it rather than jumping straight in

The SENCo is likely to want evidence from this kid’s subject teachers, before taking any action. Evidence that the teachers can’t read the child’s handwriting. Has there been a parents evening recently, and if so, did any teacher mention the issue?

When did the problem start? If handwriting was OK in, say, Year 9, school may insist that he hand writes. Unless he can type quickly and accurately there’s no point in issuing a laptop for use in lessons, which the school probably can’t afford anyway at this time of the year.

Shame that teachers pay so little attention to neat handwriting these days.

I have been pulling DD up for her lack of care with her handwriting and spelling since day one of secondary school. I am told ‘the teachers don’t care’ and ‘it doesn’t matter’ It’s such a shame that the momentum of the prep for Y6 SATs is not maintained in the move to secondary. In primary the Y6 teacher had them drilled about handwriting, SPAG and checking their work. Why does this stop in Y7?

I have a year 9 child with severe dyspraxia and he's mainly used a laptop since primary. There was an instant improvement in the quality of his work. We've worked hard on his keyboard skills.

I'm terrified about his GCSEs. As a marker do you not get any tag on the answer saying 'diagnosed disability'?
How much of the papers need filling in/diagrams rather than him typing responses separately? #AnxiousParent

piggy - what do you mean by ink pens are not allowed in exams?
Do they have to do their GCSEs in pencil or something? I haven't heard of this and DS is taking his in May.

I think Piggy means fountain pens as opposed to a Bic biro.

Some teachers do care;.I taught a student who writing was literally unreadable - interestingly his brother, whom i also taught, was as bad. I flagged it up urgently to the SENCO as the older one was going into yr 10.

Fountain pens are no longer allowed. It needs to be biro.

Yes, I mean fountain pens. It needs to be black biro.

I care , too, and am a teacher but I do find I am a bit of a rarity...I guess everyone is so busy that it falls down the priorities against other issues . It is important, therefore, if you are concerned as a parent OP that you keep raising it : even if, like me , it eventually gets listened too a bit late!

Piggy / Pottering Can you still use roller ball or fibre tip pens? DD's handwriting goes to pot with biro.

I lost marks for handwriting from GCSE all the way through to my English degree. Negligible if the majority is readable and the content excellent though.

Why not just make him practice making his writing clearer? 2 weeks of learning shorthand and my writing is already getting much nicer because I’m re-practicing letter shapes and spaces etc.

It’s a fault that should be corrected unless caused by further special or educational needs.