Access arrangements for GCSEs

[Floottoot]

DD is in year 9 and has ADHD.
She has been assessed and awarded 25% extra time as a result ( slow processing, poor working memory).
She is due to take GCSE ICT next month, with the mock this week and so we have initiated contact with the SENCo, regarding access arrangements.
Although the JEQ guidelines give ADHD as an example for the use of a prompter, and presumably separate invigilation as a consequence, the SENCo is arguing that this may put our DD at an unfair advantage.

Surely ADHD, as a recognised disability and by its very nature, means that a student has a long term, significant impairment (attention deficit) and separate invigilation and a prompter would be a reasonable adjustment, so that they are not disadvantaged?

Has anyone else has experience of access arrangements/ refusal of?

JEQ, not NEW

I am fairly sure that under new exam rules giving candidates a count-down for time left is no longer allowed for any candidate including those with access arrangements (it used to happen a few years ago but rules have been tightened up).
Invigilators/prompters cannot provide any advice or direction on when candidates can move from one question to another or direct them to a particular question.
I did training for prompting last year (2017) and doubt it will have changed for 2018.
It is up to the teachers to prepare pupils for the exams by appropriate practice in lessons as nothing can be done on the day of the exam itself when the pupils are under exam conditions.

Catslife, this year's guidelines include the following as an example of a prompter:

"A candidate with Attention Deficit Disorder works for a few minutes then looks out of the window. As his is taking his examination under separate invigilation, the invigilator is able to call out his name to bring his attention back to his question paper."

" A candidate with Asperger's syndrome has no sense of time. The prompter sees that the candidate is doing nothing. She says "Jake, focus on the question, there are 15 minutes left."

There is another example where the prompter taps on the desk every 15 minutes.

I've now spoken to the SENCo directly and seemingly it's no longer a question of whether DD qualifies for adjustments, but what the school chooses to do as a centre.
Having then spoken to the ADHD Foundation, I've been told that the school would be discriminating if they didn't make reasonable adjustments, so I'm no clearer on DD's position.

You have to skip the SENCO and deal with the Exams Officer. The EO and Headteacher are the only ones who have a say in how exams are conducted.

Agree you need to speak to the exams officer.
Interesting example OP. We are being updated on new 2018 regulations via a meeting before exams start. However the school doesn't have candidates with a prompter in a separate room from all other candidates at the moment.
You are past the deadline for some types of access arrangements now.
Rest breaks are fairly straightforward to organise, but the deadline is likely to have passed for extra-time and/or prompter.

It may be different in Ireland but our psych wrote a letter to the school advising they need to apply for a separate exam centre for DS, (they used a different classroom) and extra time due to DS aspergers.

There was no discussion regarding unfair advantage as this was his legal entitlement. The only issue we had was the school forgot to tell the invigilator that they were needed for one of DSs exams and he had to hang around for 40 mins waiting for someone to arrive. But he still received his full time.

As I say it may be different in Ireland but I'd definitely start with a letter from your DDs doctors.

catslife - at my centre we have the candidates who only need a prompter with no other special arrangements in the main hall and it's marked on the invigilator notes which desk(s) need to be monitored in that way. That's an acceptable arrangement

mikeyssiter - I think the arrangements in England are different to yours ime it's not necessary to need a doctors letter to have a prompter - I'm not an expert but that's not the way it's been explained to me

The school/SENCO are being ridiculous on this - your DD has qualified for these concessions so she must have them! It's got nothing to do with the other students or any perceived advantage or disadvantage over them.

IMO it sounds like they are struggling with the logistics or accommodating her elsewhere but I may be wrong. Fight this as hard as you can OP. It may impact what happens in year 11.

Bobbybobbins, it is all about addressing the disadvantage of the condition compared to other candidates, while not giving any advantage. A friend who used to invigilate and act as a reader/scribe found that many candidates often did not choose to use all the access arrangements available to them on the day.

Regarding prompters and separate invigilation, the guidelines state neither have to be applied for, not evidence given, and in the case of separate invigilation, this doesn't even have to be recorded.

My feeling is that the SENCo doesn't want to have to go to the trouble of organising another room.
Contacting the exams officer seems a good idea, thanks for the suggestion.

It would be unusual in an exam cohort for there to only be one candidate needing separate room or access arrangements. At dc school they use an area within the same exam hall. Laptop users have to be positioned near sockets.

Examseason, I think a prompter is fine in an exam hall, but the scenario given in the guidelines seems to suggest that an ADHD student would be in separate invigilation as a matter of course - or, at least that's how it reads to me.

LIZS, I believe there are 2 other students involved in access arrangements in the year group; that's what the SENCo said, as they were sat next to DD in this morning's mock, to allow for rest breaks to be facilitated.

Be aware that the school might not have enough room to place individual students in separate rooms with their own invigilator/prompt. Sometimes it's just not achievable due to availability of space and staff.

I completely understand that, and actually, expecting the school to give DD a room entirely on her own would be unreasonable.
It seems to make sense, logistically, for the students with access arrangements to be in together, and that would also mitigate DD's concentration issues.

I am an invigilator too. In the pastvwe had sepafate rooms but believe me there are so many needing special arrangements tgese days even in a super selective we now have a small group room for students with similar needs to your child. Rest breaks should however be for as long as the child needs and we call an on call ataff member to accompany them and they can do what they want eg get a drink go for a walk etc. The clock stops and the time restarts.

Prompting is by tapping but we are not allowed to tell them how much time is left but can say when the exam finishes

A small group room would be perfect for DD. She actually said that the most distracting thing about the mock was the invigilators walking up and down and talking to each other.

The rest break situation seems vague in her case so I will clarify that with the SENCo.
As for the prompter, she was allocated one yesterday but they forgot to/ didn't prompt her, which was worse for her than not having one, as she was expecting to be told how much longer she had.

It's interesting to read how many trained invigilators have been told they can't verbally prompt, when the guidelines say they can but maybe verbal prompts are only allowable in separate invigilation?

DD (year 11), has been struggling with English. She has come home today to say HoEnglish and SENCO have spoken to her today about having a prompter when she sits her forthcoming exams. While I am pleased school is providing her support, what about the other subjects? I realise English she has particularly daydreaming in but surely she could have a tendency to do this in her other subjects? I asked DD and she got really stroppy that I was being critical of the SENCO which I wasn't, just a genuine question/concern.

Oddsocks, I'd guess the fact that she's been offered it for English means the school will be open to your suggestion that she needs it for other subjects too. It doesn't require an application or evidence, so that's good at this late stage, although ideally she'd have had it for mocks.
How does your DD feel about it?

Floottoot she seemed happy to have a prompt...

I don't want to trivialise this, and my dyslexic daughter gets extra time so I know it is important, but I can't help thinking that the best way to ensure that someone is not unfairly disadvantaged is to get them to take their GCSEs at the end of year 11, not the end of year 9.

Fifthtimelucky, I agree. It wouldn't be my choice for DD, as ADHD affects emotional maturity too so she's closer to a year 7 child in that respect. That said, it's been interesting to go through the revision with her and see what her weaknesses are, and it has at least raised the issue of access arrangements ahead of year 11, so not a totally negative experience.