Exam access arrangements and extra time

[thisagain]

I'm trying to understand the rules for extra time in GCSEs. My friend's DD said that she sat unofficial exams recently (Yr11) and 73% had what the school called "Soft Access" and therefore, the minority were in the hall. She says that this includes extra time and the school had welcomed children with exam anxiety to apply for this. Also included was a boy with well controlled diabetes (apparently because I don't know) who was unsure why he had any extra access requirements and hadn't asked for it. Also, a girl with a history of migraines was given extra time. This had caused her to loose quite a lot of time from school, but the migraines weren't at that particular time. None of this seems right and I keep hearing how the exam boards have tightened up on exam access arrangements. What are your thoughts?

"None of it seems right' - well you don't have the details, nor should you, of each childs needs. Extra time isn't just handed out for the fun of it and those who get it shouldn't have to publically announce why they get it. There is such as thing as respecting peoples privacy and not expecting the world to have all the medical information about a child in order for there to be a public agreement that its okay to have extra time.

And yes...you guessed it - my kid has extra time. We don't have to worry about getting another Ed Phyc reconfirming her dyslexia to justify it as her eye sight means she gets extra time so aren't we lucky that we can save that £600. The number of insensitive, crass comments like 'I didn't know having glasses meant you could get extra time' is unbelievable and I refuse to have any more conversations with people explaining the complexity of the issues with her sight and why glasses can't 'fix' it. So now I just wink and say 'we'll, you have to know how to play the system'. Let 'em stew on that.

Our education system should be about getting those kids with good ideas and ability to show what they are capable of. Exams shouldn't be about a test of how fast you can write, or read, but rather about the quality of the ideas and depth of knowledge.

I'd give ANYTHING for my kid not to need extra time, not to struggle with dyslexia and have serious eye sight issues. Judgy posts like your make my blood boil.

Whilst 73% sounds incredibly high and certainly at my son’s school a tiny number have access arrangements.
It may not seem right to you, but unless you live with a particular medical condition you won’t know the impact. As an example there are multiple things that can impact on even ‘good’ type 1 diabetes management, and can’t all be controlled for all the time, for example- stress, adrenaline, anxiety, food, lack of food, hot weather, cold weather, quality of insulin, failure of insulin giving technology, exercise, glycaemic index of food .... it goes on. There is empirical evidence of a negative impact on cognitive function when hypoglycaemic and that it can take at least 45 minutes for problem solving skills to return.
No child wants to look different and stop the clock if things go pear shaped.

So I think best not to judge. Be glad your own child doesn’t have to live with the things that some others do and accept that if they need a safety net they need it.

The "none of it seems right" is not to access arrangements being arranged for children to put them on a level playing field with children who are lucky enough not to need it but to the high figure. 73% is the majority of the year. I know it was third hand information so was thinking people would come on and say that it can't be true. I mention extra time mostly because it is this I was mostly surprised about, being a last resort. I understand the system to a certain extent because my friend's DD has severe dyslexia and has certain arrangements in place but cannot understand how extra time would be relevant for a child with migraines for example.

At no point has anything I've said been at all judgy because there is nothing to judge. I am just trying to understand the procedure more because I find it very hard to believe that 73% children in an average comprehensive school would need access arrangements.

I was actually told that they were getting extra time, I didn't assume it. However, you are right, it simply can't be the case. They must all have difference requirements. It has come from a 15 year old (one who was in the main hall). I believe the 73% figure is right (i think) but I'm sure they can't all be receiving extra time. I wondered if it was because they were being more lenient with them not being official exams but as someone said, they could just be seeing if they need rest breaks etc before the real exams come. I think I've got the answer anyway in that somewhere along the line, something must have been exaggerated. Thank you for explaining anyway because it didn't sound right and I was genuinely interested.

I have read and re-read my post and am still struggle to see where it is judgy. In short, it says "does this statistic sound right to you". No educated person would ever be jealous of a child receiving extra time, extra breaks in an exam etc as they would know there would be a reason. This is clearly a very sensitive subject for some people, and I know there are subjects that I am sensitive about (e.g. Attitudes to invisible disabilities) but I don't believe my wording indicated judginess.

I can accept you didn’t mean to judge, and I wouldn’t expect you to understand every disability, I know I don’t.
I hope I’ve helped you to understand some of the multiple variables that can impact on a young person with Type 1 diabetes. This is a life threatening lifelong disease which is relentless in its management, literally hour by hour decision making and often minute by minute. Teenagers are given a potentially lethal drug to self manage. Too much can kill, too little can kill. Low blood glucose levels restrict blood supply to the brain and can lead to coma. It’s not pretty to watch an otherwise normally high functioning teenager slurring and stumbling and complaining of blurred vision. So my point is he may seem ‘well controlled’ but you don’t see everything; you don’t see the daily/hourly battles. You don’t see him checking and worrying, deciding if it’s ok to eat, him mum checking he’s still alive in the night. That’s the reality. Please give the kid a break. It’s just a rest break, no extra marks, no extra time, just if needed the time to treat and recover.

Ahbut if you re there please can you PM me? thanks