Any exam officers here? Or people with equivalent knowledge of exam board processes re special requirements?

[ncme]

If an A Level student has an unavoidable clash between an exam date and something Very Important, and an official letter to prove it, is it ever possible to sit the exam earlier or later in the same day? The relevant exam board in this case is AQA.

I haven't given details of what the Very Important thing is because I'm not seeking judgement on the strength of the case, I just want to know if its possible in principle and what the process would be.

Exams officer here. For a funeral, you might be able to apply for “special consideration” as an on the day issue as long as the candidate had sat at least 25% of the assessment. So eg missing one of the 3 maths gcse papers would possible allow for this as they’d sat two papers totalling 66%. However, special consideration for on the day issues are always subject to exam board judgement and approval.

Ultimately, contact the exam board with details but also remember that some things are down to the centre (school or college) to decide.

From the little info you’ve given it’s unlikely and they’d have to remain under supervision anyway.

Sometimes the answer is no and just resitting it in the next available season is the only option. If it’s that important and only one exam, it might be the candidates judgement call to make as to which one wins.

I know of a circumstance where a cohort of A level students took an exam at a different time, so they could attend the funeral of one of their classmates who had been killed in an accident. Different though, because it was everyone taking that exam.

No chance.

Oh gosh, there are a lot of people making assumptions on this thread, and some misinformation. For what it's worth, I got the info I needed early in the thread from Exibstudent. I had been told about some students who managed to get a time change, but didn't know what process they had used. Now I do, and that has helped me assess whether we can follow the same process. End of story.

@Foxyloxy1plus1

I know of a circumstance where a cohort of A level students took an exam at a different time, so they could attend the funeral of one of their classmates who had been killed in an accident. Different though, because it was everyone taking that exam.

This would be most unusual as there is actually a higher likelihood of people being able to access details of papers from the Internet as there is a strict window within which the paper is taken or supervision is required.