Using a computer for GCSE exams

[CousinGreg55]

My ds had the first of his mocks today and was surprised to be told he was to do the exams (English and History) on a computer. He didn't know this was going to happen, it had vaguely been discussed by his English teacher at his yr 10 parents evening but he did his yr 10 exams as normal.
He has no SN but does have very bad handwriting.
Any disadvantages to doing GCSE exams this way?

My DS is doing his GCSEs on a laptop as his handwriting is poor. It means his papers can be read and he will be able to work faster.

I imagine your DS won’t sit with the whole year group which may or may not be better for him.

My son did his GCSEs on a laptop and it was fine. He did them in a room where other people were writing exams. He had to wait for the paper to be printed off at the end and sign it but no real downside.

DS has awful handwriting and uses a laptop in most lessons and will use one in his GCSEs. He types quickly and finds it easier than writing by hand. His work is now legible which I suspect will be an advantage.
At his school students using laptops are in a different room to the main exam hall so the clicking of keys doesn't disturb the rest.

His writing is pretty bad so it is for the best. Is it just some exams? Assuming not Maths.

Doing exams on a laptop is fine, but it’s supposed to be his ‘usual way of working’ and he should have had plenty of practice - not just suddenly told to type when he turned up in the exam. The pupils I teach who use computers in exams use them for all of their lessons.

It isn't his usual way of working he was just told about this when he went into the exam hall. I think I will contact the school to find out more.

My son did his GCSEs this summer and used a laptop. He has dyspraxia and his handwriting is generally illegible even to him. The school had to show the exam board that this was his usual way of working (which it was) which I guess your school will need to do if they want to apply for it to be an official access arrangement for the proper exams.

My son was supposed to use a scribe for his maths exam but I only found out after that this didn't happen. Consequently he's had to resit his maths although I have asked to get the paper remarked as there may be answers that he got right but they couldn't be read.

It's strange that they haven't mentioned it to you but really good that they're being proactive and putting something into place for him!

I had a computer for all my exams back in 2006. I found it very helpful as I'm dyslexic and can't spell or see my own spelling mistakes. I passed all my exams and had someone write my maths paper for me aswell. I gave the answers of course.

If his handwriting is poor he will be disadvantaged by not using a laptop as examiners don't have time to sit and work out what words say, they will just mark it as incorrect and move on to the next one.

However as PP said it should be his usual way of working, which is perfectly reasonable to start now as long as it isn't just done once for the mocks and then never again until his summer exams.

Same for mine. It's all easy-based subjects and long answer questions.

Importantly, he must use the laptop in all relevant lessons, too. He needs to be confident and comfortable using the school laptops, as they may be different to his home one. Some of the functionality of Word is likely to be missing, like spellchecker and grammar checker.

Essay-based, not easy.

Ds is in Y12 now, and will continue using the laptops.

I would do some checking here.

Ds uses a laptop for all lessons (barring maths) and exams (barring maths). He had to be assessed and then use it in lessons. They have to have it as a normal way of working for them to do for GCSE.

Now it might be that they're planning on using these exams to help show that he is much better with a laptop. Ds went up from a 3 in one exam to a 7 only a couple of weeks later because of the laptop, and that sort of thing was able to be used to show he did benefit from it.
But what you don't want is him to think he'll be able to do that, and then suddenly find for GCSE he can't, because that might throw him.

For ds the computer people have a separate room to go to, he likes that, as it is quieter for him too.

As an invigilator it's meant to be their usual way of working. Are the school going to push for this as legible writing = better grades.
He'll have the paper too and fur some exams the kids use a mix of paper and computer and some exams (like maths) they tend to just use paper. He guest have to use it and what he does now will be used in evidence for the real things.

Seems odd the have sprung this on him. I had a reader/scribe for exams and got to practise a lot prior to get used to dictating etc I used a computer as much as was possible but they were shared then and I wasn’t allowed to use them for exams not sure why. My mum did teach me to type as she knew I’d need the skill which I did and I appreciate that.

get your son practising doing past papers at home and speak to school and ask where the discussion was about this with him and you? It takes a while to get used to using a computer for exams although kids now are more used to it than I was I’m sure. He should have extra time too.

I was an examiner for A level for 20 years and honestly if hand writing is illegible it's best to word process the responses. It's an advantage as most people can type far faster than they write so more can be produced. It will make no difference to marking as that is looking at content not presentation.

Not all WP users get extra time.

DC did due to illegible writing. All fine.

DS1 age 16 has used a laptop for his GCSE exams - however he has been using a laptop since primary school - he had assessments with occupational therapy and so it has been his normal way of working for a long time - if he needs to write an essay or long piece of work he is allowed to use a laptop. His primary school also gave him touch typing lessons so he has no issues using a laptop and is much faster than handwriting.