Do you think writing an essay which has legible but messy writing would be given lower mark than neat writing?

[Wupity]

Ds is doing Nat 5s and teachers seem to think highly of his essay writing skills. He gets good marks in eg English, Geography etc. but his writing is really quite messy. He seems convinced it’s not a problem but I am worried anyone marking will be judgmental at first glance of his work.

English is probably his strongest subject and he really needs good grades in it as some other subjects he finds a lot more difficult

If it is readable then it will be marked. If the examiner cannot read it then they cannot mark it.

No extra marks for neat writing, no. Thank goodness tbh.

Is it actually legible? Then no worries. I have had students called by others as having terrible writing, but I have looked at it and said, no, that's fine, it's not pretty but I can read it perfectly well.

It’s normally legible. He needs to probably pay more attention to not letting it get any worse then

Isn't terrible handwriting almost a prerequisite for some of the Professions..?

My son has writing which is difficult to read and is diagnosed with Asperger's. Difficulty with writing is often linked to autism- eg fine motor skills and dyspraxia.He uses a word processor for longer pieces of writing, which is very helpful because teachers can then give him accurate and useful feedback. He also has access arrangements for exams which will enable him to do much better.

My teacher used to say that work handed in having legible writing put the person marking an exam / essay in a better mood than a piece with difficult to read or illegible writing - a written piece that makes their heart sink a wee bit before they even read it.

They don't take marks off for poor hand writing. It is the content which is marked.

As above.
I'm an exam marker as well as teacher. Marks aren't taken off but we are told not to lose time trying to decipher a completely illegible word.
I've got 26 of my own students' essays to mark tomorrow, and one of them will take a lot longer than the others. I always do that one first, or last.

Thanks. I appreciate this feedback from you all

Poor handwriting is not a problem as long as it can ge read without too much trouble. Youngest had terrible handwriting, really awful yet still got an 8 in English. He now types all essays/college work which is fine until he gets to exams again....

If it's illegible there might be a case for a laptop. You can ask his teacher. Bear in mind the essays are scanned in and marked on a computer so messy writing can make it very difficult to read. If it's totally unreadable they'll have to go and get the hard copy and have it marked by the senior team. That's a right hassle but it won't affect his grade.

I think if it's legible it'll be OK. I've been an examiner and it can take effort - I've sometimes had to read a script aloud to myself. It doesn't affect the mark.

You might want to look into the possibility your son has dyspraxia. It causes problems with gross and fine motor skills. Both my son and I have dyspraxia. We both get 25% extra for exams (I was diagnosed for free by university). I had to pay for my son's assessment.

I'd definitely ask about the possibility of doing exams on a computer, though if he doesn't have a diagnosed reason for bad handwriting you might not get anywhere (worth looking into it - I was tested for dyslexia in school because of my poor handwriting despite having very good spelling). Luckily in university I injured my wrist and they allowed me to use computers for my exams from then on. But if the person marking it can read it, even if its messy, then it'll be ok

Try a few different pens and see if that helps. I've got a fountain pen which one of my y11 will use in his exams because it makes his writing miraculously more legible.

Scripts all get read, and like a pp, I read the tricky ones aloud. Examiners can read most things!!

If unreadable or you think he will lose marks then the school should allow him to submit typed essays and do his essay type exams on the computer. My DS has no medical reason other than his writing is messy, his school is allowing him to do this.

That’s interesting @wyziwyg

If he's doing exams this summer then he'll almost certainly be too late to apply for this because they have to show it's their normal way of working.

If he's got a year to go, then speak to the SENCO and they can do an assessment for him. The school has to decide it's bad enough to lose marks, not just you saying, and assess him. You might like to try talking to his English teacher first (or another essay subject) and getting them onside.

If he comes out as needing it, then they officially should provide a laptop for him to work day to day. However this often is a limited resource, so they may need to wait until someone else is finished with one. So we provided our own for ds and it made a huge difference. For ds though it's also that he works much quicker and better on a computer on assessment, so I don't know how easy it is to get it for messy handwriting.

Ds' assessment was for speed and accuracy on a computer. He came out as bottom 20% for handwriting and top 99% for typing, which meant it was quite obvious he needed it.

You may find that they suggest handwriting sessions instead (I know someone who had them in year 10 for this reason) but if you can then show that he is much slower if he's writing neatly then you may be still able to argue for a laptop.

They are obviously grading the content but if they have to keep stopping to decipher a word, rereading sentences etc it will ruin the flow and possibly lower the grade.

It's really important that students who type can type at least as fast as they write, or they'll potentially be disadvantaged by typing.

Yes a laptop is a possibility if writing cannot be read - but it does need to be illegible; the student I flagged above had poor writing but perfectly readable.

Tbf @Wupity says it is readable so that's fine, no laptop required. It's not ime necessary to have any diagnosis- my colleague had a fabulously able student with no kind of SEN, but his writing was so unreadable that he used a laptop. He ended up at Oxford IIRC.

@YellowDaffodilRedTulip I dont think that's so tbh. I'm not an examiner of written scripts but others here are and say it's not an issue in terms of the mark. I sometimes mark speaking assessments and difficulty hearing clearly will not stop me crediting what's said (as long as I can hear it and tell what is said).

I can't speak specifically about National 5 since I only mark GCSE.

However, we are expected to reward what is there. If a script is illegible, it's simply passed up the line. I'm paid to mark the work; the "flow" isn't a problem.

We were told not and DS got A* in his English Lit A level with appalling handwriting (relief!).

I'm a secondary teacher and have marked for exam boards. If you can read the writing, then it will be marked according to the content, irrespective of how neat it is. However, if the examiner has to puzzle out every other word, zoom in and adjust the contrast etc to be able to read it, then realistically it will be harder to understand the flow of the essay and the mark may be lower than the same content in better writing. Most teachers and examiners are used to reading far worse handwriting than the general public, so it would have to be extremely poor to be an issue!

My DD has a weak hand so I hope not! Its improved a lot recently (now nearly 13). Plus she's dyslexic with terrible spelling.