Exam arrangements

[RollingRivers]

What type of exam arrangements are available and do you have to have SEN?. If your child has suspected SEN can they get exam arrangements?

I’m a secondary maths teacher, I don’t think the children have to have SEN although there needs to be a lot of evidence that the child needs, used and benifits from extra time. Any student we give all children extra time in year 7 and those that appear to benefit get assessed and then might go on to get it in the following years if the are using it. We then have to show all the evidence from ks3 and ks4 to prove that they need it during their GCSEs. They can also have scribes, and a reader (small group or individual) depending on their SEN requirements. For anxious students sometimes they also have separate rooms, and VI students can have different size/colour exam papers too. Getting special arrangements is a long process though.

You have to prove that in "normal working conditions" ie in the class you have some form of support.

Is it possible to get separate rooms for children with self control issues like talking a lot as I’ve been made aware that any sort of contact with others like winking smiling etc will get ur test ripped up

Probably not if they haven’t any diagnosis of SEN. I would say if they are in ks3 you have a lot better chance although still slim. However if they are about to start their GCSEs you don’t stand a chance. Yes disrupting or attempting to disrupt others will result in the test being destroyed, and could lead to the student being removed from all exams for that exam board.

How old are they? As pp said, if they’re in year 11 now then not a hope, it’s far too late to start the process.

Separate room = separate invigilators. It’s not as simple as just putting them in another room.

What year are they in? It's far too late now if they're in year 11.

You do not need to have a diagnosed SEN condition; however, there has to be evidence of need and “usual way of working”. The cut off date for this year’s GCSES was in February.

Things like separate rooms are available in some schools, but will be limited because of the extra costs.

Year 10 and only reason I’ve posted this is because their mocks are soon and a teacher mentioned to me at parents evening that they feel my child will have a huge chance of having their paper ripped up

They won't be allowed to talk or distract others, it is still exam conditions, even if in a separate room. Maybe rest breaks would be appropriate, laptop use, extra time. However this needs to be formally assessed and their normal mode of working ( ie in practice tests, mocks, lessons) as evidenced by staff. JCQ has a document about exam access arrangements and the process to follow to apply. However
I think the deadline for this year's exam sitting has passed.

You need to contact the SENCO ASAP and ask their advice

Things like a separate room are up to school. I would make an appointment to see the school SENCo. It is also possible in some circumstances to have a prompter to help a student focus.

www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration

My Ds is in year 10 and currently being assessed for asd. He is also seeing a OT for handwriting issues. The OT will be writing a report to recommend he starts using a laptop at school.

When we first approached the school last year with our concerns they made it clear that any kind of exam arrangements like a laptop will need a professional report before they would put anything in place. Ds had to do mocks in November without any help as he had not yet seen the OT. He will be in a separate room whilst using the laptop, that is of course if he is willing to engage with the support. He's being teased and picked on at school so doesn't want to look different.

I’m aware they still won’t be able to communicate but there will be less opportunities. This is the thing , my child has no SEN ( that I am aware of ) but struggles with self-control at times and has a nervous giggle ( may or may not be relevant). Why do I speak to Senco , does she deal with these things?

Senco and/exams officer.

It is definitely worth contacting the Senco. When we approached the school with our concerns it turns out some of the teachers saw that there were problems too, yet nobody had contacted us.

My Ds is going through a late diagnosis and has been able to manage without intervention until recently, although things have been difficult. School has become more and more overwhelming for him and we knew that he would need support through these last difficult years at secondary. It's a very hard age to start the whole process of assessments and extra support but it is absolutely necessary in our son's case.

Late diagnosis of what may I ask?

Also , could anyone answer whether it is possible to get access arrangements like different rooms without a diagnosed SEN

You would need some form of evidence by a qualified individual - some Sencos would meet the criteria- plus establish as normal way of working. It does not have to be a diagnosis per se. Agree it may not be possible to have one to one supervision though.

Y10 mocks would be a good opportunity to see what he is like in the exam hall. Request that he is put at the back so he cannot easily make eye contact.

If he does disturb other pupils then that would be good evidence for arguing that he needs to be in a different room to the exam hall.

However, it would be very unusual for a pupil to be in a room on their own (usually there’s small group in a classroom) as that would require an individual invigilator and be very expensive.

Really lean on the school and SENCO. Though it shouldn't I've found that it varies massively depending on the school.

I'm dyslexic but always got good grades. My primary and secondary school refused to make any special exam allowances because they said my reading age wasn't low enough for them to investigate. I still got good grades but I didn't finish a single GCSE paper.

The grammar school I went to for 6th form had a completely different attitude. I wasn't actually diagnosed (though we knew there was a problem) until I went there and the problems I had were properly identified, investigated and accommodated.

My bog standard comprehensive didn't give 2 shits unless you were C/D borderline.

Approach SENCO now, they cover behavioural issue too. I wouldn't admit that you don't think there's a SEN because you might just not know about the range of SEN's there are! I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't very helpful. BUT if they don't help and your DC's mock papers get ripped up then you'll also have more to fuel your argument for changes to be made for the actual exams.

I've heard of rest breaks being used for kids who can't sit still/stay quiet/focus for very long. They're in a separate room with other SEN people, they raise their hand, the clock for them is stopped and they can leave the room with an invigilator and let off some steam for a few minutes.

I hope she doesn’t get them ripped up if I’m honest , how do I request she gets sat at the back ??

Sen arrangements are bespoke depending on needs - dd1 (asd) had a separate room, 25% extra time and a break each hour. She also had a mug of tea but I think that was a local arrangement! Dd2 (dyslexia) has 25% extra time.

It's in place for February or so.