Extra time for almost third of our year group! 11 plus exams

[Treetoppers]

I have a daughter about to sit 11+ entrance exams in November/December. She is at a small prep (SW London) and after a parent meeting this morning it transpires a high proportion of our year group are accessing extra time, rest breaks, private rooms for tiger 11+ entrance exams. For context, the academic ability in the school is pretty high and a lot of these children are in higher sets for maths and English. Parents are quite open about it - it almost seems to be the norm.

My daughter has quite pronounced dyslexia - slow reading rate, awful spelling, slow processing. This is detailed in her ed psych report however she doesn't quite meet the threshold for access arrangements like extra time (which would really benefit her with comprehension for example). She has two low standardised scores but they are one point above the 84 / 89 required.

She sits in the lower 25% for ability - school have given me this info. I'm beginning to think she does not stand a chance in the exam process if children that I know to be academically very able are have exam concessions. Am I missing something? The odds really seem stacked against her.

She sits in the lower 25% for ability
this alone would make me not put her through it

We are sitting for independent schools with wide ability range (not grammars). Title was misleading with 11plus - I meant competitive entrance exams for independents

Sounds very unfair if your daughter is dyslexic for her not to have extra time. How did the other kids manage to get the concessions? Are you in London OP? There are some nice less-selective independent schools

So, 1/3rd have some sort of concessions. Not 1/3rd have extra time.?

I don't know about 11+ but for GCSE getting extra time is pretty hard. It also tends to only help those who are genuinely able but slower - if you don't know it, you don't know it.

Rest breaks are a double edged sword, you have to turn the paper over or step away which can break concentration.

A small room can help those who are anxious but is of zero benefit to your average child. After covid it wouldn't surprise me if a higher number of children than usual are suffering clinical anxiety.

(This is the second thread I have seen recently which has lead on 'extra time' which is one of the harder concessions to get at GCSE level. It makes me upset as it enhances the 'story' that those that get it have scammed the system rather than it partially levelling the playing field for them.)

Brutally, she needs to go to a secondary school which meets her needs, she’ll do better somewhere she isn’t working flat out all the time.

I hope you have applied to a range of schools, her stretch might be someone else’s back up but that’s fine, you only need to have one place at one school for your daughter. Her being happy at school is the most important thing.

Hold your nerve & do what’s right for her.

You know from your own experience that the threshold for getting adjustments is high, as your dyslexic daughter apparently doesn't qualify. If other children meet that threshold, regardless of their academic ability, why on earth should they not have the adjustments made for them?

Honestly speaking, if your dd is in the bottom 25% of the ability range, I'm not sure why on earth you'd put her through this anyway, or why you would even think about sending her to a selective school, whether state or private. Quite apart from the question of whether or not she stands a chance of getting in, how will that be a nurturing, positive environment for her? I don't get it.

You seem to think that academically able children with disabilities or specific learning differences should not get any adjustments simply because they manage to do well despite their difficulties? But how is that fair?

The point of adjustments is to level the playing field for everyone. Not just to boost those at the lower end of the ability spectrum.

If you think your dd should have adjustments made for her, on the basis of her dyslexia, then by all means, fight her corner. Focus on her and what she needs, not on what the others are getting.

It's a weird thread, that you say yourself that your dd doesn't meet the threshold, so you know the bars are high, but kind of implying those who get it is some what cheating the system. And almost 1/3 of a small prep must be not a big number either. Children with higher academic ability doesn't mean they don't have difficulty.

Seems very odd that your DD wouldn't get extra time for pronounced dyslexia with an Ed Psych report to back it up. Mine does (25%) and her dyslexia is quite mild. Her headteacher says she will be applying for extra time for DD in her SATs in accordance with the recommendations in the report.

Your dd's dyslexia is not pronounced enough for extra time, as her scores did not meet the criteria.
However, her dyslexic traits will seem like they're more pronounced than others in her cohort as she is in the bottom 25% for ability.
Conversely, If a child is in the top 10% for ability and they are also dyslexic (with lower scores than your dd, that do allow for extra time)...they are more likely to succeed as their ability is higher. A higher ability child's symptoms may be 'masked' by their high ability compensating for the low scores shown up in the dyslexia assessment.
Hope that makes sense!

I expect the answer to this is yes but did you apply in time for the deadlines? Around here, schools expect you to apply around 2 weeks earlier if you want concessions and beyond that won't even consider it unless it's very exceptional circumstances that meant you were unable to do so.

Also they seem to expect every piece of paperwork under the sun and it has to be less than a year old - plus some of them seem to write to the child's current school and ask for their assessment as well.

Have they given you a reason for saying no? The grammar school consortium here send very detailed justifications

You can be doing well academically and still need the adjustments!

This is very popular in America and has made its way to London. Children being given extra time for exams always blossoms during the 11+. Most kids will not require any extra time earlier in their academic career, but now suddenly they need more time. Unfortunately, just like in the US, the schools now discount this because so many students do it. The real shame is that for children that truly need extra time, their results are discounted too.

@bjmin surely it's more likely that 11+ are the first round of times tests/ examinations children will sit, so the first opportunity for the question of extra time to arise? And dyslexia, for example, often isn't diagnosed until children are a bit older either.

Good point, you might be right. TA

How can results just be ‘discounted’, bjmin?

You mean schools just automatically put the admissions paper of all extra-timers on the scrap pile? That seems harsh.

But surely your daughter and the more academically able will be competing for different schools.

did you ask how is it possible that your daughter doesn’t qualify for extra time and these other kids do?

Absolutely not, they are not automatically scrapped. Far from it. Apologies, I in no way meant to suggest that. Sorry