Exam access arrangements

[shaddupayouface]

DS is in Year 10 mainstream. Diagnosed ASD but doesn’t have an EHCP as we were turned down on the basis of him not needing any help academically even though he suffers with extreme anxiety.

He has been given access arrangements for exams which includes use of a laptop and extra time. I did ask if he could have access to a room for exams where is either alone or with a very small group of pupils but was told that this wasn’t possible logistically.

DS sat his first end of year exam today in the Sports Hall (these exams are to be a practise for actual GCSE exam situation so pupils will be familiar with the set up next year and, in theory, it won’t be so daunting). However, DS said that he found it really hard to concentrate in the hall, it was cold and the lights were too bright, the desk was sticky (he has a phobia around anything sticky) and he was distracted by the other pupils around him. He had to use the school’s laptop, which was practically an antique and, instead of Word, they had to use a format which I suspect the exam board requires. He said the keyboard was a different size to his own and that the font was hard to read.

I suspect there is not much the school can do to change the laptop and format of the documents but do you think it would be reasonable for me to insist that he is given a separate room to do his exams in, if not for these end of years, then definitely for the actual GCSEs next year. It’s an independent school and we pay a lot of money for his education. I know that’s not the point but surely they can make arrangements to make sure DS has the best chance of succeeding next year.

Thanks for reading.

They need to find an extra body to sit with them. Can you contribute towards this?

I’m staggered that they are so resistant to this. I also wouldn’t expect you to have to fund the invigilator.

Ds1 has SEN and had a dx but no EHCP at school; he had a reader and a scribe for his GCSEs and obvs had to be in a separate room.

At the school I taught at, come May, every spare room was commandeered for students who needed a quieter space, needed a reader or scribe, needed to be with a small group. Not at all an unreasonable request @shaddupayouface. Btw my dcs’ school and the school I taught in were both state comps.

There is no need to clear a small room as an access arrangement at all. (The JCQ that runs exams cannot specify what size of room is needed).

all they need is an invigilator in the small room

They would have to take down displays - hence ‘clear the room’

Hardly exam conditions of the answers are on the walls.

It not hard to remove displays given they get replaced

i have worked in exams and schools often have multiple single rooms going on.

what the OP is asking is neither difficult nor unusual

it takes 30 mins at best to remove displays and put up the information needed - it can be used as a room when he isn’t in an exam (although rooms usually do get blocked off for exam times) and some rearranging of classes that were in that room
offices can also be used

it is a normal request that schools around the country and prepping for now

The positive is that there is time to get something organised before the formal exams, so your son is familiar and comfortable with that way of working.

I used to use all of the rooms in my department for exams. One room was for a small group who found the exam hall difficult, another those those with reader/scribe and one for those with extra time/ rest breaks.

It does take organisation and can be a logistical trial, but it is doable. I was fortunate to have a good number of TAs who were very familiar with the set up, to invigilate.

I’d suggest a robust conversation with the school.

The point of year 10 exams is to see how he copes so do feedback but maybe agter he has taken a few to see if he gets more used to it. In many schools laptop users are positioned separately to access power and printer. Ds was on the stage for many exams. He will have to get used to the laptop and software provided though.

Access arrangements need to be consistent with his normal way of working. Does he get a laptop and separate room for class tests, for example?

Laptops can use Word, but they have to have spell-check disabled. If he is to use a school laptop in exams, he needs to be using it throughout the year so that he is familiar with the keyboard size, etc.

Bright lights, sticky desks, and even temperature are easily rectified.

Use of a separate room would need to be approved by JCQ, so either he doesn't meet the criteria, or it will need to be applied for ASAP as it can take a while to gather the evidence. They can't justify a separate room just based on parental request. Imagine if everyone did that! Small rooms and classrooms are a limited resource in any school.

Access arrangements need to be consistent with his normal way of working. Does he get a laptop and separate room for class tests, for example?

It's true that access arrangements need to be a normal way of working, but my ds was never in a room alone for class tests. Neither were any of my own students who requested a smaller room, for various reasons. The school has discretion here surely. Yes, what if everyone asked - but most will not.

As others have said, most of the difficulties your DS faced in that first exam can be overcome with a conversation. If he uses a laptop in school ordinarily, is that one you have provided or something the school provides?

Post-injury, my DC2 has nerve damage that causes all sorts of issues with their ability to hold a pen, write etc. but a regular laptop with a mouse pad doesn't meet their physical needs. Although the school offered use of a regular laptop, I purchased a Surface Pro, vertical mouse and low profile keyboard as recommended by the physio for them to use throughout Y10 and Y11. So DC2 uses the same set up for exams, I purchased an older model secondhand and sent it to the school's exams officer who asked the IT department to wipe it and set it up as an exam-only device. This has worked well and the school (state comp) has bent over backwards to make sure DC2's exam laptop mirrors their regular one (they use Word but with spellchecker etc switched off). They have even arranged for an IT person to be present in the exam hall at the start of each exam in case any troubleshooting is needed. There have been occasional glitches but with the rest of Y10 and most of Y11 to get things sorted, I'm sure your DS's school will be able to.

It may be that if the sticky desk and laptop issues are resolved, your DS finds being in a large exam hall manageable after all. The overly bright light and cold temperature sound as though they were a challenge too far yesterday but had his immediate working environment been a better fit, those aspects may have mattered less. It's definitely worth talking to the exams officer and SENCo about trying out different strategies for your DS. Start with thinking about the laptop as that's the easiest thing for you to control and then go from there.

@CraftyGin yes access arrangements do but not the location. location is entirely at the discretion of the exam centre.

it has to be you can’t tell a school they have to sit exams in a particular way - for example one school might have 20 students sitting a subject another might have 50. The 20 can use a room the 50 might be in a hall.

neither do you have to sit in the same room type all the time

so no location doesn’t need to be run by the JCQ at all. Only that the location follows the guidelines

Exactly - when we did MFL listening exams, obvs the H and F cohorts had to be in different rooms. Sometimes the F group was only 12-15 students so they could be in a smaller room (which was also better for the audio as less echoey). But for other exams most of them would be in the hall.

And clashes clashes are always kept in a small room to be away from others.

the year I did it we had a triple clash and the poor 16 girls did 4 exams completely separately to everyone else in a small room for exams and another room inbetween exams for rest. Always with an invigilator.

as long as it follows the guidelines for a room (correct notices up etc and invigilator requirements) they could do it in a windowless office or a large sports hall

the only thing stopping the school is inconvenience - and if a few others want it so what? 10-15 can be put in a small room.

Most want to be in the sports hall - I know I would

Thanks for all your great information. I’ve had a word with the SENCO this morning and she did suggest a couple of options like wearing noise cancelling headphones, etc., I know this won’t work as he won’t wear them at home. A separate room is at the discretion of the school from what I’ve managed to find out from the JCQ website - it’s a reasonable adjustment but obviously has to be a last resort as it can be tricky logistically for some schools. We’ve reached a compromise so I’m happy with that and hopefully proper arrangements can be made for next Summer and GCSEs.

DD had a clash. She had to be a in a separate room even for the one she was doing at the same time as everyone else - I think to ensure that she couldn't catch sight of a paper or a candidate for the one she had yet to sit. She was the only candidate in her school for that subject!

A separate room is not necessarily a reasonable adjustment. The point of adjustments is to get what is in the candidate's head down on paper - for them to do the very best they can within the parameters.

A student with anxiety might get even more anxious being in a room as the sole focus of the invigilator.

Most students get nervous before exams. It's more worrying if they don't. Not every normal reaction is a SEN.

The best thing is to get used to whatever the anticipated arrangements are now, and stick to them throughout Y11 - so mocks, class tests etc.

No the best thing is to try - when we did mocks in year 10 trying out a small room made sense and then they can see whether it is because it is one they no evidence or application is needed

because being in a sports hall isn’t a normal way of working!

I have had to get a room and invigilator and a scribe ready within an hour after a nasty bullying incident between exams left one pupil unable to use her hand! It really isn’t hard to coordinate

I think the main focus for me was just making sure that my DS felt as comfortable as possible during his exam. He was clearly struggling with the Sports Hall and thankfully his school have been very supportive. He sat his exam yesterday afternoon in a pod inside the Sports Hall and found it much better from a sensory point of view. I now have a child who is still anxious about the exams, but feels he has been supported and that has made a huge difference to him.

They just put plain paper over them.

This is horrifying and so far outside my experience of current teaching

you don’t need an EHCP but do need to have usual ways or working and ‘evidence’ in form of usually teacher comment - there’s JCQ guidance on exactly what but our senco and exams officer deal with it.

laptop - should be his usual way of working. No, he can’t use his own but they should ensure it’s functioning and familiar. If he needs to use it for a few weeks to get used to it perhaps he could do that then hand it back in to be prepped / wiped. The keyboard thing might be tricky but shouldn’t be too difficult unless he’s using a Mac or something. Boards don’t specify laptop etc; we print off work, kids sign it and it gets submitted with everyone else’s. Kids have a pdf exam paper loaded and a paper copy as well. If maths etc they have to know how to get the right formulae or whatever so have to use it regularly

Separate rooms are very hard but we have loads and it’s a logistical nightmare but we do it because it’s important. Might not be entirely on their own but usually a much smaller number and also a less intimidating room. This can absolutely be accommodated. We pin rolls of lining paper over displays as needed. Takes five minutes.

does this school have a senco?!?!
Happy to dm further if helpful

See I don’t think they have @shaddupayouface a school round here actually brought in some temporary buildings to make sure that they had enough small rooms to cover it and the invigilators for it and that was a comprehensive state school.

the exam hall is a busy and loud space and can be very distracting - if they know the child is an anxious one and not just being awkward why not try it and see if he likes it (small rooms ironically aren’t for everyone either)

exams are logistically tough anyway

what is key to remember though is no application or process is needed regarding rooms (as I said all exam centres need discretion as to where exams are held) so it can be done midway through exams if it gets to much

all other access arrangements need to be signed off by march next year

That’s interesting. Talking to another mum at school. She has been told her son doesn’t qualify for extra time even though he was below the threshold for processing speed. Apparently the SENCO says that he either needs a diagnosis of some sort or he will need to take a writing test. He has to have two things, ie., slow processing and slow writing speed to qualify for extra time. Do you know if this is correct?