Special consideration can be awarded to candidates after an exam if their ability or opportunity to complete the exam has been affected by circumstances out of their control.
Special consideration should not be confused with access arrangements, which are put in place before an exam to ensure reasonable adjustments are in place so no child with a special educational need, disability or injury is put at a disadvantage and can access the examination in line with peers.
Special consideration is awarded in the form of an increase of total raw marks available, between 1 and 5 per cent. If a child has more than one indisposition - for example, if they have had a recent bereavement and they were given a defective exam paper - special consideration can only be awarded for the most serious and is not applied in a cumulative way.
What is the role of school?
It is the role of the school (or centre) to submit an application for special consideration for each candidate and ensure it adheres to the UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018. Centres should ensure they submit before the deadlines online for each exam board: AQA, CCEA, OCR, Pearson, WJEC GCSE and GCE.
The centre must have relevant evidence for each application. This could include medical evidence or a supporting statement which must be signed by a member of the senior leadership team. All evidence must be retained until after the results have been released.
Examples of when special consideration may be approved include:
- Temporary illness at the time of the assessment.
- A recent bereavement in the immediate family.
- A domestic crisis.
- A serious disturbance in the examination.
- Accidents during the examination (such as being given a wrong or defective examination paper, failure of practical equipment or failure of materials to arrive on time).
- International sporting commitments on the day of assessment representing their club or country.
- Failure by the centre to implement previously approved access arrangements for that specific examination series.
Whereas, it may not be approved in cases of:
- Long-term illness, unless difficulties at the time of the assessment are over and above those that previously approved access arrangements would have alleviated.
- A bereavement occurring more than six months before the assessment unless it is an anniversary or there are ongoing implications such as an inquest or court case.
- A domestic inconvenience, such as moving house.
- A minor disturbance in the exam hall by another candidate.
- The failure of the centre to prepare candidates properly for the exam.
- Poor quality of teaching, staff shortages, planned building work or lack of facilities.
- Misreading the timetable and failing to attend the examination at the right time and place.
- Submitting no coursework.
- A disability or learning difficulties.
- A failure by the centre to process access arrangements by the published deadline.
Who decides if an application is accepted?
The decision is made by each awarding body on a case-by-case basis.
When is the school notified?
In most cases, when using the online application process, the online system will provide an instant decision.
What differences are there between exam boards?
All exam boards use guidance provided by JCQ to make their decision and so decisions made by different exam boards are consistent. In general:
5 per cent is the maximum allowance and is for the most exceptional circumstances including terminal illness of the candidate, a parent, a carer, a brother or sister; death of a member of the immediate family within three months of the exam or a very serious incident at the time of near to the examination.
4 per cent for “very serious problems”, including major surgery near the time of the examination, severe disease such as cancer, life-threatening illness of the candidate or an immediate family member.
3 per cent is a more common category, with examples including a recent (within one month) traumatic experience or illness, or witnessing a distressing event on the day of the examination, for example.
2 per cent is the most common category, including examples of illness at the time of examination, extreme distress on the day of examination and a broken limb on the mend.
1 per cent is reserved for “more minor problems”, including ongoing noise in an exam, illness from another candidate resulting in minor disruption during the exam or minor upset arising from administration problems.
Laura Chamberlain is assistant principal and Sendco at Shireland CBSO Academy
