Can I do anything about extra time for GCSEs this late?

[wonderstuff]

I suspect dd16 has dyslexia. She reads very well but struggles with spelling and has some issues with speech which I think maybe phonological processing difficulties.

Shared concerns with school at start of year 10, she’s struggling with English despite being fairly bright and a reader. Chased a couple times and they said no, her reading comprehension is fine, took them months to get back in this. I said I disagreed, I’m a SENCO myself and feel she needs to be assessed for speed of working. When I got a bit sharp elbowed they gave ET for last set of mocks. They didn’t however do any assessment. Her English teacher seems bizarrely unbothered by her attainment, despite her being well below her target grades. He maintains she’s careless and needs to improve technique. Today the senco has emailed saying they don’t have the evidence for extra time, largely due to the teacher dismissing it. They have done no assessment other than monitor her use of extra time.

Can I do anything at this point? I’ve told the SENCO I will have her privately assessed and consider my options, which I will, but it’s all a bit late now. I’m so cross as I raised concerns with plenty of time and they’ve just refused to engage. I said from the outset if I’m wrong fair enough but I don’t think an assessment is unreasonable.

Following, as this post could be written about my DD. She’s on track for 7/8/9s in everything except English, which is more like 4/5.

Access arrangements are supposed to be the students normal way of working - so if she never needs extra time to complete her work in lessons they won't give her extra time in exams.
I would definitely get her assessed privately though, even if it's not in time for these exams it is always going to be useful information and potentially useful in future exams.

Why didn't you get her privately assessed when you first suspected it?

If you’re a senco yourself surely you would have known the timelines and evidence needed to get her extra time in exams and should have been on top of it?

Sounds like you need a conversation with the exams officer to see what’s possible at this stage, although you might struggle to get it in this side of Easter

Unfortunately it is now too late to submit access arrangements to awarding bodies for GCSEs- the deadline has passed. If she ends up retaking next year I'd focus on getting the arrangements agreed and in place early- before Xmas.

@takemeawayagain i stupidly assumed the school would assess, why would they not.

@Bunnyannesummers when they granted extra time for mocks (which she has used in English and geography) I stupidly assumed they would assess. I would have done, don’t understand why they haven’t.

Sorry to hear this, most schools will get extra time for all dyslexic kids.

@Librarybooker unfortunately that isn't the case any more.

She would need to be assessed by an external assessor and meet criteria in the appropriate areas.

Honestly, I don't think you will. The deadline was 31st January which is long gone. There is a caveat for extenuating circumstances, which I suppose if you have documentation/evidence of the number of ways in which you've requested she be assessed you might get via some sort of grievance process with the school?

I believe the waiting times for private assessments is several months.

Deadline was 21st March, there’s some allowance for late diagnosis but refusal of teacher to consider it a problem is probably insurmountable tbh. He’s such an arrogant arse, I can not understand why he’s not remotely concerned when her P8 target must be a 7 or 8. I feel I’ve really let her down, I just assumed they’d want to do whatever to try to get her the best opportunity, so naive. I would have just done the assessment.

My understanding is a private diagnoses won't get you extra time.
Exam concessions are granted based on inschool assessments (with the requirement being under 85 - but not sure if that's adjusted scores, centiles), plus teacher evidence.
On what basis did they give her extra time in mocks?

FWIW, we have a letter for my Y10 saying he has extra time. I think it's too late for summer 2024 exams. Sorry.

I teach English and I'm usually the one pushing for assessments!

We use under 85 in the LUCID tests, there are six categories. There would always be additional assessing done for extra time, though.

Well yes, but the school would normally advise and it’s done in year 10 ideally

If they have monitored her use of et then they know if this is of benefit to her or makes no difference. Agree it needs to be evidenced as her normal mode of working,

What are her grades across the board? Does her dyslexia affect her other subjects or just English? What techniques is her English teacher suggesting for her to improve her grade?

Ds had a brilliant English teacher who told me specifically where he was going wrong, took a piece of his work and showed him what he needed to change or add to increase the level (ie level 3 up to a level 5 or 6) and remember to hit all the AOs (Assessment Objectives) to get a more rounded and thorough piece of work.

So alongside the extra time bit I would be asking for an urgent meeting with the English department for the improvement part. Ds2 had the ability to pause an exam to process the questions for GCSE but not for A level.

English teacher is hod and gives her feedback like ‘expand’ he turned up late to last 2 parents evenings, which were online, so we got 3 minutes with him and he said she was doing fine, no concerns, when I mentioned concerns about finishing and family history of dyslexia he said that wasn’t up to him to look at. He’s an arse, she had about 8 English teachers in ks3, so I suppose I should be glad he’s stayed on?
She’s on track for 8 in maths and Spanish, 7 in geography and food tech and 6 in sciences.

We have got her a tutor for English so she’s getting an extra hour a week there. She needs a 5 for her chosen A-level, it should be fine but I am at a loss as to why school aren’t doing more.

It's not too late. The deadline is a soft deadline, they will accept late applications.

I would argue it is her NWOW if they gave it to her in her mocks and she is routinely running out of time to complete tasks and assignments.

It may be too late to get their assessor in however. A private assessment will give you an indication of speed of working. If a parent brought in a private diagnosis first week of April I would certainly administer my own assessments to see if extra time is warranted. If so it would just be another late application.

The JCQ deadline is not your stumbling block, it is the school not acknowledging her NWOW

Her English teacher sounds poor, at best. Not that that's much help.

At my school NWOW has to be more than one set of mocks . Presumably the mocks didn't show she needed the time so thta has not been pushed through.

My school does not test for dyslexia (I know some do). They do a few processing test but not one to diagnose dyslexia.

To be totally truthful I have never really seen extra time as a concession sorting out the issues facing dyslexic students. Slow processing and reading, yes.

Like mrs, I am one who is always pushing for concessions to be investigated but it does relay on a lot of evidence. It's very frustrating and I am often disappointed.

It would now be seen as too late if there really wasn't some huge, suddenly emergent issue.

My dd is only in y9 but school have already said that she can wear headphones during exams to have the questions read out.

I don't want to draw attention to her and neither does dd. I'm autistic and don't hear noise cancelling headphones out for the same reason.

Surely there are other things that can be done.
But I know it's difficult for the school.

I hope you get it sorted.

She’s on track for 8 in maths and Spanish, 7 in geography and food tech and 6 in sciences.

I'd imagine those teachers were asked for evidence , too, and those grades don't suggest a student for whom dyslexia is proving a barrier. I've raised concerns before and been told other subjects don't have any so it's no dice.

If it's anything like my school we have also been told as subject teachers never to suggest dyslexia ourselves because we have become so swamped with exam concessions... and also because we can't diagnose. Even those with private assessments don't always get concessions otehr than things like overlays occasionally.

The exam system in this country is brutal.

In my experience kids rarely use extra time in science or maths but if they’ve got it use it in essay subjects, it’s only English and occasionally geography where she’s running out of time.

Poor teaching is I think the bigger issue, but I can’t do anything else about that. I personally would just do the assessment, I don’t understand why they are being so resistant to it, unless they just don’t have the resources? She used the extra time, but they’re saying it didn’t improve her grade, although she gets feedback to expand her answers. She says in class she writes much less than her peers and finds it frustrating.

How has she got to 16 and you're only just noticing signs of dyslexia? Surely this would have been flagged in primary. I would also suggest that if she's on track for an 8 in Spanish that doesn't scream dyslexia. Maybe she's just bad at spelling? Or hates English so isn't trying? Maybe that's why the teacher seems unconcerned.

Sounds like cost. They may have to buy in external services. I think I'd be asking for a meeting and pushing for an assessment (again)

They have to rule out rest breals before even considering extra time, so surely as a SENCO you’ve pushed for that first so it can be ruled out? Does the school have an assessor, or do they buy one in to test key pupils at the start of year 9?