extra time GCSE

[ilovesushi]

Hoping someone on this board has experience of getting extra time at GCSE. DS was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 6. He has GCSEs approaching and does not have extra time. He only half completed his mock papers at the end of Y10 which was a clear indicator to me that he needs the extra time. The senco has been rubbish. Never answers emails, claims extra time would benefit all students, very defensive and unhelpful. I repeatedly asked if we should get a more up to date assessment and she said no it wasn't needed.

She ran some tests (form 8?) to establish whether extra was needed in Y9 and DS scored 75, 90, 90. Apparently you need two scores under 90 to qualify or two scores under 95 plus an assessment. I really think she should be pursuing this but she's not even returning my calls or emails. We really are looking at him possibly failing everything without the extra time which would be a disaster. He is academically very bright but has very slow processing speeds.

If anyone has any words of wisdom, I'd be very grateful!

You can see JCQ’s guidance here.

For extra time, candidates need 2 speed of working standardised scores 84 or less or one 84 or less and one 85-89.

Occasionally extra time is possible when there are 2 85-89 and very, very rarely when there are multiple scores of 90-94 and there is other evidence.

Unfortunately for you, it also needs to be the normal way of working.

Thanks for getting back to me. In primary he had extra time for his SATs, but in secondary despite me asking repeatedly, despite him being on the SEN register, and despite recommendations from his primary, he has never been given extra time and always failed to complete exams. It feels like such as disaster!

The rules for extra time in primary are different, unfortunately.