Access Assessment Report to get extra time at GCSE - how much should it cost?

[GJHmum1]

My DS is in Y9. We had an Ed Physch report done when he was in Y6 which said he has issues with memory and language processing. The upshot is that his grades are low despite working really hard. The SENCO at his school has told us we need to get a new assessment report to enable him to qualify for extra time at GCSE. She gave me a couple of website addresses to contact. They have quoted circa £500 for an 'Access Arrangement Report'. This seems excessive - surely every parent with a child eligible for extra time in their GCSE doesn't pay this sort of money to qualify? I'd be grateful for any advice on how to get an assessment done at a reasonable cost. Thanks.

Why are the school not doing the assessment? Is it a state school?

No it's private. Got an email saying he had to have an independent assessment done with links to 2 dyslexia websites and he is not even dyslexic :-(

It cost us £450 ish. To qualify for extra time the exam boards require working memory and processing scores to be in the below average range (below the 14th percentile) so if he scored above this in previous tests you might consider whether it is worth it? The assessment takes 3 hours and you are paying for a professional consultation, the exam boards require another one because of the number of years that have elapsed in your child's development. You will need a further one after GCSE for university entrance. He will also need for the school to have demonstrated and recorded evidence of need over a period of time so you should make sure they have done this adequately.

Many parents in the state system will also pay this as schools will often focus resources on pupil's who are achieving below average levels. As we are fortunate enough to be able to afford independent school fees it never occurred to me that we anything but fortunate to be able to afford to get our child the professional assessment and support, including extra time.

If your son has problems with working memory and processing problems he has a Specific Learning Difficulty, Dyslexia is the label given to SpLDs that manifest themselves in literacy problems, but dyslexic pupils will have working memory and processing difficulties at the root of their problems. In the past when the label was more loosely defined then your son would indeed have been diagnosed as Dyslexic, and indeed many teachers with inadequate understanding of SpLDs will tend to attach the label to any pupils with similar learning difficulties. So those websites may well be of use particularly as, to say it is your son and he has the benefit if a professional diagnosis, you do not seem to have much understanding of SpLDs?

£500 sounds pretty reasonable to me . For a full edpsych report you could pay a few hundred more.

Be careful here. It depends what extra exam support you want your child to have.

The vast majority of exam concessions at GCSE level require no formal assessment at all, students are entitled to work the way that they normally do. So if he/she usually typea or dictates that is fine and needs no assessment.

If you want extra time then some aort of assessment may be needed. However, in my experience extra time is rarely useful for any student that is entitled to it. The issue is not work time, it is processing time and stress, they normally 'finish' as quickly as everyone else.

However, the option to take regular supervised breaks requires no assessment or form filling at all as is often far more useful than extra time. It can be used for a moment of respite, rest, thought or to just relieve a bit of stress. This is often far more useful.

Up to GCSE most teachers are perfectly allowed to complete the Form8 as long as they take care to follow the guidance in the JCQ handbook.

It is only after GCSEs that a new assessment should need doing, as it is often a transition period for most students and a good time to reassess needs.

Basically, the school should be able to and in fact should be completing a form8 without any additional assessment for most students that need it, and your pre-existing assessment is most likely still valid enough for any evidence required.

Having reread your post again, I wpuld recommend you request unlimited supervised rest breaks. They are absolutely permitted, dont let them tell you otherwise. The clock is stopped during the breaks, no time is lost, and in my experience it is more useful than extra time.

They will likely not like it, as chances are it would require being in a seperate room and a 1 to 1 invigilator, but they will need an excellent reason to refuse a request like this, and Ofsted would certainly take an interest if they refused a standard and reasonable request from a parent.