Page 2 | DD has two A-level exams at the same time

tulippa · 2023-01-01T13:02:19+00:00

DD has two AQA exams scheduled on the same afternoon. She's been told she has to take them one after the other so she will have four hours of exams in one afternoon. Not ideal. Is this normal or is there any way to get them scheduled at different times?

clary · 01/01/2023 15:37

Sorry for thread derail there @tulippa

catndogslife · 01/01/2023 17:41

dd was in a similar situation for A levels 5 years ago.
There is a limit to how early the exams can be started without informing the exam board.
The sixth form should be letting you know what they plan to do, which will depend on how many candidates are in the same position.
However what may happen is that the first exam is started early e.g. over the lunch break to stop "clash" candidates mixing with others over lunch. Then there will be a short break at the end of the first exam and then the second exam started before the candidates taking the exam at the usual time have finished. I hope this makes sense.

Ericaequites · 01/01/2023 18:16

Send a healthy treat and bottled juice for the break with an encouraging note. It’s tough, but your daughter can do this.

MargaretThursday · 01/01/2023 22:47

Dbro had 3 clashing for A-levels. He did one first thing in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Luckily they were all only 2 hour exams.

catclimbedtree · 02/01/2023 16:31

I was that child that had a GCSE clash in 1990 and had to sleep over at a teacher's house. It was horrific and still haunts me to this day. The teacher was lovely as were her children but sleeping in a stranger's house is not the best for revising which is stressful enough.

I would have preferred to sit them in the same day given the choice.

sailingsunshine · 02/01/2023 16:47

@catclimbedtree , luckily that no longer happens, there are procedures in place involving parents signing forms and no internet access over night if you have more than 6 hours of timetabled exams on the same day.

catclimbedtree · 02/01/2023 17:28

@sailingsunshine I just think from a safeguarding point of view it would be ridiculous in a non-boarding school situation. Yes the teacher is DBS checked but their visitors aren't. I will horrify you that the original plan for me and the other boy who also had the same clash was that we would sleep in the house on school site, the house where a few retired Catholic priests permanently lived and also housed visiting Catholic priests. I vomited with stress at that suggestion, 15 year old female housed with Catholic priests, no nuns, only priests.

Re the internet I would know what Ds's exam questions were before he got to the car after finishing his exam thanks to AQA twitter hashtags so it isn't hard to find. I cannot believe that a child or parent wouldn't look at what was on the exam. As a very honest person I would find it hard not to leg my child up.

sailingsunshine · 02/01/2023 18:09

The parent has to sign a law abiding form and the exams officer hands over the candidate to the parent at school and collects them from the parent the next day at school. I don't know what else you can do, it's quite rare esp last year at the exams were spread out over 6 weeks.

Tinysoxxx · 02/01/2023 20:49

When it happened to Dd, we didn’t look. We signed a form and we took Dds phone off her and none of us used the internet all night, except for watching Detectorists on IPlayer. It was actually quite calming!

RewildingAmbridge · 02/01/2023 20:52

My a level clashes were so bad I had 3 exams in one day being escorted between the last two and doing the final one in a room alone with an invigilator, then having to STAY OVER NIGHT at my form tutor/history teacher's house, with no mobile phone, go back in the next morning and do the final exam. I have no idea why it was so ridiculous, my choices weren't unusual, I did do 4 but that's not uncommon.

roarfeckingroarr · 02/01/2023 21:27

I remember having three at the same time and Judy taking them one after that other, with a quick break in isolation between each.

gogohmm · 02/01/2023 21:46

Dd had this, 3 in one day! Thankfully two were 90 mins, one 2 hours so she took them with and hour between them each

KatyC3 · 27/02/2023 14:13

My daughter has Eng and PE at same time on 2 Dates. 1 exam is 2h30m the other 3h45m …. She gets extra time so add on 25% to both exams and it means over 3h for #1 and and 4h45 for #2 !!
So far have been told she will
have to do both on same day they will just move one to morning. Not right

SurreyMumOfOne · 27/02/2023 14:23

I also had a three way clash on a Friday morning but I was at boarding school. Lunch was supervised separately - I think there may have been four or five of us with that clash - and then I had to sleep over night in my Housemistresses spare room. It was very odd, but can't possibly have been as weird as someone's personal home.

The worst part was being able to hear everyone having a noisy demob Friday night and then having to do an exam on my own on a Saturday morning.

@RewildingAmbridge I think part of the cause of my clashes is that my school chose a different exam board for each subject. So I may only have had a two way clash with the same board? One choice was a bit rogue in the mix though.

Reddahlias · 27/02/2023 15:35

Re the internet I would know what Ds's exam questions were before he got to the car after finishing his exam thanks to AQA twitter hashtags so it isn't hard to find. I cannot believe that a child or parent wouldn't look at what was on the exam. As a very honest person I would find it hard not to leg my child up.

Exactly. So you really have to take them the same day!

Jules912 · 27/02/2023 16:04

I don't think the staying with teachers always happened, when I had a clash in the 90s I was allowed to go home but my mum had to sign something to say I wouldn't contact anyone ( probably much easier as this was pre internet) and take me into school next day, where I was taken straight to the exam room.

RecommendedForYou · 27/02/2023 16:07

I didn’t have clashes when I did A Levels. But it was perfectly normal to do a three hour exam in the morning followed by another three hour exam in the afternoon. Not ideal but definitely do-able. Are people saying this should not happen?

Simonjt · 27/02/2023 17:07

SurreyMumOfOne · 27/02/2023 14:23

I also had a three way clash on a Friday morning but I was at boarding school. Lunch was supervised separately - I think there may have been four or five of us with that clash - and then I had to sleep over night in my Housemistresses spare room. It was very odd, but can't possibly have been as weird as someone's personal home.

The worst part was being able to hear everyone having a noisy demob Friday night and then having to do an exam on my own on a Saturday morning.

@RewildingAmbridge I think part of the cause of my clashes is that my school chose a different exam board for each subject. So I may only have had a two way clash with the same board? One choice was a bit rogue in the mix though.

Every exam board is on at the same time, so aqa maths paper 1, ocr maths paper 1 etc are all sat at the same time.

StillWantingADog · 27/02/2023 17:09

NuffSaidSam · 01/01/2023 13:10

When this happened to some people at my school in the 90's they had to sleep over at a teachers house and do the exam the next morning! Can't believe that was allowed to happen! Doing them both on the same afternoon, with a break seems a better solution.

Yes I remember this too! Not me thankfully

SurreyMumOfOne · 27/02/2023 17:10

@Simonjt Oh are they? Then I really must have made some weird choices then!