Extra time in exams - how schools actually decide.

[MJHLondon]

I work in learning support and am worried about how difficult parents with neurodiverse children find it to interpret the JCQ (exam board regulations). I am wondering how common this is and what help is available generally?

I didn’t say it wasn’t a wider picture in @Adaaustem’s DC’s case. I was replying to the section of pp’s post mentioning slightly faster at maths and pointing out it isn’t unusual for that to be the case. Even where it is the case, it doesn’t mean the candidate can’t be eligible for extra time.

I disagree that the focus should only be on EAA and gathering evidence for that. Wider SEP needs to be considered, too. At this point in Y9 in some ways SEN support as a whole is more of a priority because there is still time to collate evidence to support EAA. It would be an incredibly poor SENCO who only looked at EAA and gathering evidence for that,

I have many years of experience gathering evidence from teachers for normal way of working (NWOW) and I’m not using ChatGPT.

Some teachers won’t tick the boxes on the forms to say it’s the student’s NWOW - so the SENCO or whoever is handling exam access arrangements needs to chase these forms up. JCQ don’t give warning like Ofsted - they do unannounced inspections and they will question the SENCO if available (not off sick with stress, for example). If the school doesn’t have NWOW evidence available in the files JCQ ask for, they can be closed down as an examination centre.

It is also subject-specific. If there is NWOW evidence for History and English but no other subjects, the student should only get extra time in History and English. Good practice is for students to complete mock exams with extra time and change the colour of pen they are writing in (or font on a laptop) to show how much they can produce in the extra time. These documents don’t have to be for every subject. In practice, a proforma with boxes ticked and a sentence or two from each subject teacher will suffice.

in most large schools, the SENCO doesn’t have time to do this data collection and it’s delegated to someone else. It doesn’t need to be the SENCO who fills out the Form 8. Some schools pay for an external specialist to do the testing, at additional cost to school, if the SENCO doesn’t have the correct qualification. The NASENCO qualification will not do.

JCQ tightened up the regulations over a decade ago to make sure students weren’t put at an unfair advantage if they had a private dyslexia assessment. It is up to subject teachers to identify which students are running out of time in exams. Autistic students should be given extra time for processing if their teachers agree they need it, and students on the pathway for autism assessment should have their processing speed tested using the tests the JCQ allow.

The system isn’t perfect and regulations are tweaked from year to year, so the person who has the most involvement with exam access arrangements should attend the JCQ course each year. It’s not necessarily the SENCO. The headteacher is ultimately responsible for making sure no student is disadvantaged or unfairly advantaged.

Also - children can and do get extra time for Y6 SATs.

An earlier dyslexia diagnosis can form part of the picture for evidence of need, but the student still needs to be tested using JCQ tests at the end of Y9 or later. They might score too highly for extra time by then.

If there is NWOW evidence for History and English but no other subjects, the student should only get extra time in History and English.

Not quite. A GCSE candidate wouldn’t need evidence from every GCSE subject. See example one in the most recent supplementary guidance document from JCQ. Although in practice, most will have evidence from all subjects. Evidence from History &/or English would be also sufficient for any other subject/specification requiring extended writing.

If that’s what the supplementary guidance says then fair enough. As you say, in practice there will be evidence from most subjects.

No — just trying to explain things clearly 🙂 It’s quite a technical area so I’m probably over-explaining a bit.

I think this is where it can get quite confusing for parents — there’s the technical side of how schools evidence things, and then the practical reality of what you’re actually seeing day to day.

If a student is consistently not finishing work or tests across subjects, that’s usually the key starting point for a conversation with school, regardless of how the technical side is eventually applied.

Your posts are very clearly AI. You should at least own it if you are going to use AI.

Where it's taught, (Scotland) there was an sqa coordinator, usually a depute head who liaised with the head of learning support and the sqa. It was a huge part of Learning Supports remit

I agree with @NorthernFemisphere collection of evidence can be difficult. The supplementary guidance was helpful.

How is it decided for home educated children? I have no skin in this game but wondered if anyone can answer.

EHE DC (or other private candidates) can approach the exam centre(s) they are sitting the exam(s) at if they feel EAA are required. The centre would then need to be satisfied the conditions are met, including evidence (although that can look different to schooled DC), and for those EAA which need applying for, the centre would need to apply. JCQ’s guidance mentions private candidates.

Yes, that’s right — JCQ do include private candidates in the guidance.

In practice it can be a bit trickier though, because the exam centre still has to be confident there’s evidence of need and (where relevant) a normal way of working. That’s often the bit that takes a bit more discussion for home-educated students.

Usually it comes down to what evidence the centre is happy to accept and whether they’re able to put the arrangements in place.

DS13 has dysgraphia and probably dyspraxia.
He is a laptop user and school have given him 25% extra time since year 6.
He has to change colour or font at the start of extra time which he gets for all tests- they have a test in every subject at the end of every topic plus formal year end exams which he takes in the computer lab.
At the last parents’ evening we were reassured he would definitely get extra time for GCSE and that I did not need to pay privately for dyspraxia diagnosis. He has a 7 page OT report from end of year 5 as his only diagnostic report. It is very detailed though!
Off the back of it he learned to touch type and uses his laptop for most subjects- maths is his downfall but I have just set up weekly tutoring with the retired Head of Maths at his school which should help!
Are school correct that he will definitely get extra time as he always has it IYSWIM?

It sounds to me like he’s had really good support in place, which is a great starting point. It’s not quite a “definitely” for GCSEs, but where a student has been consistently using extra time as their normal way of working (like he has), that’s usually a big part of the evidence schools rely on.

In practice, the school will gather evidence over time — things like test/exam scripts from different subjects showing how the extra time is used, along with teacher comments. That’s all pretty standard and should be straightforward if it’s already his normal way of working. Reports like the OT one are an important part of the picture as well, and forms one part of the evidence needed for a medical condition but it’s the current evidence in school that tends to carry the most weight for access arrangements. If you want to be completely reassured, it’s worth just checking in with the SENCo about how they’re planning to evidence it for GCSE — but nothing you’ve said raises any concerns at all.