Number of kids getting extra time in exams MASSIVELY overstated

[noblegiraffe]

Ofqual are withdrawing their statistics on how many children getting extra time and other accommodations in GCSEs and A-levels because they've admitted that they are completely wrong. It's something I know has been referenced quite a few times here so I thought it worth flagging.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jul/17/ofqual-admits-massively-exaggerating-number-of-students-getting-exam-assistance?

"The new analysis suggests that the actual proportion of students receiving access arrangements – including 25% extra time in exams – is now broadly in line with the proportion of students with special educational needs in the school population."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-withdraws-access-arrangements-statistics

Oh my goodness are you seriously suggesting that I’ve let my child down? I have spent countless hours working on English with him and phoning school to try to find out how I can best support him. I simply had no idea that most children didn’t have trouble finishing in the required time or that extra time for slow processing was a thing. This has been an eye opener for me. Anyway I’m going to walk away from this thread as it is upsetting and it is clear that there is zero support from other parents or even teachers for kids who struggle academically but may not have SEN.

SEN is a learning difficulty or disability that requires extra or different support for them to learn effectively compared with their peers.

If your child is negatively impacted by slow processing compared with their peers then they are SEN.

I think processing speed is being used as a short hand (or I was using it that way). It’s one characteristic of dyslexia but to be eligible for 25% extra time you are required to

i) have disadvantage across multiple characteristics (eg working memory, writing speed, processing ) and
ii) meet a threshold for the effect of these disadvantages which is assessed in a diagnostic report by an educational psychologist.

That means there are lots of dyslexic children who aren’t eligible for extra time. So it’s not just the case that any child who is below average in some aspect of their learning should be eligible for extra time.

I’m passionate about this because dyslexia runs in my family and as I’ve stated above my siblings have exceptional intellectual abilities and are hugely successful professionally. No one benefits from stopping their achievements. But it’s really damaging not to be allowed to achieve your potential. Jamie Oliver was really eloquent about the impact of his dyslexia being treated as an intellectual disability when he was a child and how it affects him to this day.

Not really, if their job does require reading and comprehension in a limited time under exam conditions... They may well not need a reader the
Plus the usual reason for a reader isn't the inability to read.,it's because they're blind or dyslexic or similar..

So should they be forced to announce their impairments at application?

Do you think they would apply to be a brain surgeon? Do you think they'd be applying for jobs like news presenter...?

Many people can't actually read / don't speak English fluently, yet are perfectly capable of doing many jobs.

As with every single thread I have ever read on this site which deals, even tangentially, with matters pertaining to disability, the offensive, ignorant ableist commenters are out in force.
I know this may cause some commenters to faint with outrage, but I not only had a private room in which to complete my GCSE exams but also had unlimited time. I am completely blind, have been since birth. When I did my GCSEs there was no provision made for submitting exam transcripts electronically and the exam board did not have the ability to process papers submitted in braille so, while the papers were provided to me in braille, I had to dictate my answers to a scribe. I am not sure if anyone here has ever had to dictate an essay on the agrarian revolution, a Latin to English translation of Caesar's war diaries or describe a diagram of the photosynthesis process or the plotting of information on various types of graphs, but I certainly did all these things and many more during my GCSEs. I would like some of the posters on this thread to imagine how hard it is to compose an essay, for example, when one cannot simply go back and read what one has just written. If I lost my train of thought or wanted to work out the best way of composing the next section of the essay I had to ask my scribe to re-read what I had just written. This was a long and exhausting process for both my scribe and I. Without significant amounts of extra time and a private room this would have been impossible. I could not have shared a room with others since I was having to dictate all my answers. I received 7 A* and 2 A grades in my GCSEs. Perhaps some posters might say I did not deserve them because of the accommodations that were made for me, I don't feel that way and I would hope that nobody with any sense or compassion would either.
When I came to take my A-levels the situation had improved significantly as I was able to write my answers on a laptop, loaded with adaptive technology, and submit an electronic transcript. I still required extra time as it generally took more time to read back over a transcript with a screen reader than it does to do the same visually, especially if needing to correct spelling, but I no longer required an indefinite period of extra time. I'm sure there are posters on this thread who have hard time accepting that kids can submit papers electronically. All I can say is that I am glad that my employer did not see the accommodations made for me during my exams as a reason not to employ me, as some of the charmers on this thread have said they would do themselves if confronted with a candidate in my position.

This is big news as these figures have been quite immflamitory when reported in the press. And actually i guess people had a point saying the numbers were too high as 'we cant all have extea time' because it turned the numbers were wrong!

If you see figures saying 42% especially with the privare school divide, people start to feel resentful if they dont have extra time, but if the numbers really reflect much more closely those with extra needs people should be more understanding.

(Although the comments indicate even some people resent those)

Exactly. If a student feels they could perform better with extra time then by the present criteria they should get it. Maybe they write slower or take longer to put their thoughts into words.

The present criteria do not allow that. And it would be ridiculous if they did.

It's not about performing better. It's about levelling the playing field so a blind candidate can demonstrate what they know and can do, for example.

Because candidates can also have people 50/100/200% extra time. So maybe we should just double the length of time for all papers?

Maybe anyone who wants a reader, scribe, quiet room, rest breaks etc should have them.

How will that work in reality?

Or should we understand that exam boards have been setting thousands of exams for decades and know what they're doing?

It’s not about feeling that you could do better with more time. It needs to be evidenced that you would be actively disadvantaged without it. We spend quite a lot of time collecting evidence that this is the case.

For the avoidance of any doubt I don't think exam concessions should be disclosed.
I was just pondering that a Reader may be considered by those that think extra time should be disclosed as even more 'helpful'.
(My DD had 25% extra and a Reader.)

DD significantly underperformed under timed essay conditions compared to her normal work. School raised it with us. Never an issue for short questions so slow processing wasn’t a concern for us but school were concerned as it didn’t match what she could do verbally or what they expected.

She is diagnosed autistic but no other SEN until this issue became more obvious and may have gotten extra time until the cause was realised - She handwrites so much slower than her mind thinks that she was constantly losing her train of thought so not getting everything down. Also hand pain got worse as the exam continued so she wouldn’t finish (now being investigated for hypermobility). They tried her with laptops in class when finally in too much pain to hold pen and it solved so much - no extra time needed as she can type at the pace of her mind.

I'm saying this to show that reasonable adjustments really are varied and are only about allowing them to do as well as anyone else with their level of ability. She may have been given extra time, but still ended up needing breaks or a scribe if going that route … but this worked, just changing to the typing (And it became her usual way of working in class which helped too).
@GCSEnerves could this be what has the impact for your son?

Oh i see. My mistake.

Extra time is quite a blunt instrument to deal with levelling the playing field in exams, ignoring all the other adjustments allowed for a moment. Having just watched Dd sit her GCSEs with extra time, it is exhausting. DD is dyslexic so is a much slower reader so it just takes longer to actually read the papers accurately. So it helps for that reason. But I have wondered where you draw the line and whether it’s in the right place. But you’re not trying to make adjustments for intellectual capability so I think the line is about right.

Exam centres should be following JCQ’s rules (for those boards JCQ’s guidance applies to). For example, for extra time, standardised scores only apply to applications for those with learning difficulties without an EHCP. Standardised scores are not required for applications not made under the learning difficulties criteria or for those with learning difficulties with an EHCP. And applications under the learning difficulties criteria do not require the candidate to be 2 years behind on comprehension.

Being 2 years behind is definitely NOT something that is needed for access arrangements.

Nor do you need an Ed Psych report. For most SpLds it comes down to test scores - and the assessor has to have specific qualifications - and 'normal way of working'.

Schools can put up barriers - things like not allowing children to use laptops in class, whereas other schools have everyone on a laptop as standard.

It's well worth wading through the guidance if you suspect your child has needs that would benefit from access arrangements, especially as it takes time to get things in place and get used to them. (Reading pens are awful according to DD - she has them on her form, but dislikes them.)

The guidance and regulations are in the pdfs here: www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/

@Bertielong3 I agree.

This thread has made me really sad and also really angry. Just appalling attitudes that people should be ashamed to be expressing.

But thanks to @noblegiraffe for highlighting the important fact that extra time stats were wrong and have been overstated by Ofqual. It’s sad this finding got sort of lost in the responses - but also the responses have shown us all the lack of critical thinking and compassion that some people have around disabilities.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow would a computer reader work better for DD?

It does - and she uses it on her laptop, but she's going off to specialise in music from September and never has to sit another exam again (as long as she passes maths/english).

College SEN has been eye-opening in terms of what they are discussing putting in place for her just to help with the day-to-day issues with her dyslexia & ADHD. She can always have spell check and editing software in the future so that eliminates the majority of the issues.

We discussed a computer reader with school, but it would have probably meant a separate room (not sure why headphones didn't suffice) and she could have had music during exams and is upset that was never mentioned. We did find that even when schools are not contesting need for access arrangements, as a parent you still have to be on top of it and make sure things are in place and correct, and anything beyond the basic extra time, laptop and rest breaks you will probably need to prompt on. I suspect the school SEN department were delighted to wave goodbye to us!

I have never heard of music during an exam, is that white noise?

Apparently - I only came across it recently, so have no idea of the details.

DD seemed to only be capable of revising with music on in the background and Netflix at the same time. Would drive me insane, but a friend's son (also ADHD) does exactly the same and apparently it is a 'thing' that works for some people.

I did say to DD it was likely you got Classic FM rather than Taylor Swift.

She has noise cancelling headphones - but that is because the kid behind her used to talk under her breath the entire way through every exam (reading out the questions and reading out what she was writing as she wrote it) and it was driving DD insane.

Brought in in 2024 it seems

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-pupils-now-allowed-to-listen-to-music-during-exams-gcses-alevels/

If someone had adjustments to achieve their public exam grades I’d expect funding for similar adjustments in the workplace and it’s only fair that employers know the conditions that the candidate took the exam with.