Parents exploit exam loophole, says Ofqual
EXAM boards have been told to launch a review following concerns that parents are using mental health to exploit a loophole to get students extra time.
As thousands of pupils prepare for Alevel results on Thursday, an exams chief has criticised a “flawed” system that some parents are manipulating to give undeserving pupils a “leg up”. Requests for extra exam time have soared. Last year 15.7 per cent of all GCSE and A-level students were allowed 25 per cent more time.
Ofqual wants exam boards to conduct an independent audit of documents that set out special dispensations – known as “access arrangements” – for children with learning disabilities. An- drew Harland, director of the International Exam Officers’ Association, said the system for requesting an access arrangement was “just madness”.
He told The Daily Telegraph there was a “sense of injustice” as some saw the system as a “barrier”, while others were “abusing” it. “Extra time is a bone
of contention, and it is not being used properly,” he said. Other forms of access arrangement can include having a reader, scribe, an exam printed on coloured paper, or computer assistance.
Chris Mcgovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Middle class, articulate and motivated parents are playing the system. There’s been an explosion in concern about the mental health of young people. This is isn’t simply invented, but it provides a very good excuse for a parent to ask a doctor for a note saying their child suffers from stress or anxiety.
“In some cases it may be genuine, but it is undoubtedly true that the system is exploited. The increase is an indication that parents are becoming more and more aware of how they can play the system.”
Ofqual conducted its own inquiry last autumn amid concern about the steep rise in requests for extra time, The Daily Telegraph understands, and passed its findings to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which wrote to 300 schools asking them to review their arrangements ahead of this summer’s exams. Mr Harland said “the whole system is flawed”, and should be overhauled so that policies surrounding access arrangements are presented clearly, with no room for misinterpretation. Good schools know the system,” he said.
“Pushy parents in any environment will go for it and you can’t blame them.”
An Ofqual spokesman said: “We welcome the review. We expect exam boards to have provision in place to make reasonable adjustments for candidates with special educational needs or disabilities to take exams without changing the demands of those exams.”
Ofqual said it was “closely monitoring” the increasing number of requests for extra time in exams.