Illness during 11+ test

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Kent Mum

Illness during 11+ test

Post by Kent Mum »

Apologies if this is the wrong section to post but there seem to be a lot of expertise in this section! I've posted on the Kent forum - lots of people have looked, but no replies yet!
Briefly, my daughter took 11+ this week while ill with a virus. On Mon, took her to doctor as insurance. Ist day Tues was fine (VR and NVR), Wed went in ok but became dizzy and almost fainted during Maths, her favourite paper. She lost almost 10 mins/50, but had completed up to 45 questions out of 50 (hopefully mostly correct as got 48/50 for practice paper). Took her back to doctor, who has wriiten a letter. Invigilator also submitted a letter stating she was ill and time lost. Daughter really wasn't ill enough am not to take the test.
Her teacher isn't worried, as she thinks she will still pass, and will appeal for her if she doesn't. Does anyone know what will happen in terms of marking? Will she gets bonus marks for time lost?
Any info/experiences would really be appreciated!
Louise

Illness during 11+ test

Post by Louise »

Similar thing happened to my daughter during Bucks test (viral tonsilitis, seemed ok in the morning, got worse as day progressed, got doctors letter etc). She didn't pass that test but did pass the second (still not 100% as viruses go on for so long) and so qualified. LEA told us to put it all in writing and they would put it on file (email was fine). Was good to record details at the time as is fresh in mind, however they made it clear that they could not make any mark allowances etc (I didn't expect them to) but that it would be appropiate for us to put it forward as mitigating circumstances in an appeal - provided of course that academic evidence stacked up. They did stress that it was our responsibilty to ensure she was fit for the second test but interestingly that she was fit 'to attend a normal school day' which does give you room to argue that she may not have been 100% for testing. Invigilator was not involved in our case.
Hope that helps and that you wont need to go to appeal. Funnily enough I thought that my daughter was more relaxed in the second test - maybe she thought the pressure was off as she wasn't well!
Kent Mum

Illness during 11+ test

Post by Kent Mum »

Thanks for your reply - I was starting to feel like the only one this had ever happened to. I'm so pleased your daughter got through!
Your comments about fitness to attend school were very interesting. My daughter's teacher agreed that it would have been difficult to justify withdrawing her from the test in the state she arrived at school, and doing so would have opened another (possibly worse?) can of worms. Did your daughter actually complete the test whilst feeling unwell or if not how far did she get (if you don't mind me asking!) Did the teacher/invigilator know your daughter was unwell during the exam, or only afterwards?

I don't know much about the Bucks test - is it two papers but you only have to pass one? Or get a certain combined score from both papers? The Kent test is three papers with a pass required on each at 117-120ish.

Sorry to bombard you with questions and thanks for useful info
Louise

Illness during 11+ test

Post by Louise »

For Bucks you need to get 121 on one paper. She missed at least 10 questions on first paper, teachers knew she had been ill since the Summer (tonsils out straight after tests) but interestingly it was the other children who told me that she sobbed through test, teachers didn't notice. Which was ironic considering the number of times she has been sent home ill previously! First I knew was when I collected her at the end of the day and she was tearful with high temperature. If we had needed to go to appeal if would have been far better for the invigilator to have recorded it as in your case. Still, I'm pretty certain they do not give extra marks or offer another test as they only (!) need to pass one.Three years ago one of my sons qualified at review having sat the first test unwell with the schools insistence! (though rules have changed a bit in Bucks since then about being ill on the day - he missed by 1 and went to review which doesn't exist now). You would need to ring your LEA to see where you stand - lot easier to do it now than when lines are jammed after results come out! Have been to appeal also and although we were successful I wished I had known more about the process before we got the result of initial tests.
Good luck!
Kent Mum

Illness during 11+ test

Post by Kent Mum »

Seems like you've had even worse luck with illness than we've had! It also seems as though your daughter had a really raw deal on the day. If she was crying, the teacher should definitely done something about it.
I have been trying to get info from the LEA but it seems to be staffed by very young girls who don't really know anything apart from what is written in their notes, and aren't really very interested. I still haven't managed to establish whether we are more than 3 miles from our nearest appropriate school for travel planning, despite numerousl calls and e-mails, so I suspect this would be well beyond them. Still, there must be somebody over 20 lurking in there somewhere.........??

Thanks for all the info, which has been really helpful. Hopefully, with the invigilator involved and the doctor's letter, we will end up with the same end result- fingers crossed!! Thanks again
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