Child that misses a lot of school due to medical condition/disability and public exams

[2020again]

If there is a child who, for example, is often ill due to a medical condition/ disability and misses a lot of their education because they are ill at home or maybe with a nurse at school, ultimately what adjustments, if any, are made for the disruption to that child’s education when it comes to public exams? Having looked for quite a while on line I am thinking no adjustments at all although I really hope this is not the case as it must affect a lot of children who really need extra support and help and may get none at all.

Hi OP, I think your research is probably right, I'm afraid. If you have particular requirements in your exam due to a disability you might get extra time, a scribe or a reader etc. However, public exams are a summative measure of what you've learned. They don't differentiate between those who couldn't be there for the learning experiences due to illness and those who didn't understand the material or chose to skive off. It seems really tough, but a qualification is at least partly a test of what you know as much as how smart you are.

Having said that, depending on individual circumstances, there may be the opportunity to repeat a year or resit exams at a later date to give more catch up time. In my experience, in the situation you describe, students, schools and families often choose to reduce the number of GCSEs taken to focus time on catching up on maths, English and important ones for future study so that they have a chance to achieve well in those and show what they can do.

Yes I am afraid that is correct. Two friends of DD's had quite severe illnesses through KS3 and KS4, basically chronic fatigue syndrome with bells on; they both took their GCSEs and did well, but yes, maybe would have done amazingly if they hadn't had to have so much time off and been in hospital so much.

AFAIK they both prioritised school work over anything else so both stopped their extra-curricular activities as too tired. But there was no concession made - to be fair, how could that work? Would all their grades be bumped up one? That wouldn't really be fair tho - yes what about a skiver, or someone who didn;t bother, or someone who wasn't super academic?

One of my dc was seriously ill for a month before GCSEs, even missing their first exam, and again for the term before A-levels. Two different illnesses. They were offered adjustments, but the forms were quite clear that these were only for short-term or acute conditions. Chronic or long-term conditions were specifically disallowed. The adjustments were 2%-5%, so actually very small - basically only made a difference if they scored just below a grade boundary.

The school also offered adjustments to the weighting given various assessments and courseworks, so the A-level coursework and exams that were done during the acute phase of dc's illness were given less weighting than those done at other times. But I don't know whether this is an adjustment that is normally available, or whether it was specifically because of Covid.

The only other adjustments available were in how the exams were taken: eg a scribe, a quieter room, rest-breaks.

Your school's Exams Office should be able to advise you.

No adjustments are made for missed school time. I work with students in this situation and it's really difficult to watch.

However most colleges/universities are very understanding and it doesn't have to impact negatively on their future assuming they are well enough to continue study (and want to)

We have 3 year 11s who are going to repeat the year as they have missed so much time shielding or being ill. They all have serious pre existing health conditions or disabilities. I am really glad the school is offering this.

If a child is missing a lot of school, they should seek to find a way they can repeat a year, if they haven't learned enough. There is no exam accommodation that will help with not learning the material

I know a couple of Y11s in this sort of situation

The school has given them lots of additional support out of school and the students have been doing 7 GCSE subjects rather than, say, 10

It's very hard on them though

Access arrangements can be made for rest breaks, quiet rooms, different chairs, extra time, scribes and suchlike and then, if there was a sudden exacerbation of a condition at the time of the exams, a further consideration can be made which can add a certain percentage onto the marks if applied for and evidenced appropriately by the parent.

It's not perfect, but it's better than in previous times.