Bad exam result

JP · Post by JP » Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:02 pm

My son recently did very badly in a school english exam. I have asked the school to let me have a copy of his paper but they have told me they have a policy of not handing them out to parents. I think this is because they use the same exam each year and don't want pupils to get hold of past papers. I would like to see the exam so that I can work through it with my son and get some understanding as to why it went so badly. Am I entitled to see the paper under the Data protection act?

yoyo123 · Post by **yoyo123** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:06 pm

could you maybe ask where he had problems on the paper because you want to help him improve in those areas?

katel · Post by **katel** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:52 pm

Or you could leave it to the school?

KES Parent · Post by **KES Parent** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:15 pm

JP wrote:My son recently did very badly in a school english exam. I have asked the school to let me have a copy of his paper but they have told me they have a policy of not handing them out to parents. I think this is because they use the same exam each year and don't want pupils to get hold of past papers. I would like to see the exam so that I can work through it with my son and get some understanding as to why it went so badly. Am I entitled to see the paper under the Data protection act?

I think you mean the Freedom of Information Act. If it is an independent school then the answer is no, as they are exempt from the Act. If it is a state school, unfortunately the answer is probably not, as they no doubt have a good reason for not releasing it which would be acceptable to the Information Commissioner. Requesting information under the Act is also a surefire way to antagonise the school. What I think I would do, if your son doesn't understand where he went wrong, is to ask his teacher to spend a bit of time with him going through it so he can find out what they expected, or depending on his age for him to ask his teacher himself.

mike1880 · Post by **mike1880** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:21 pm

Exam papers are exempt from both FOI and DPA, but you can ask for a copy of any comments which may have been written on or about it.

Mike

Y · Post by Y » Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:15 pm

Or the school may be happy to let you look through the paper in the presence of a teacher.

katel · Post by **katel** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:02 pm

Or you could leave it to the school.

Y · Post by Y » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:12 pm

No one is more interested in a child's education than the parent, and as a teacher once said to me, if you don't fight for your child, who will? No school is perfect, and no teacher has limitless time. I reckon a concerned parent is entitled to investigate where a child might be going wrong.

Bexley Mum 2 · Post by **Bexley Mum 2** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:20 pm

Y - absolutely. I expressed some concerns to one of the deputy heads at my sons' GS a few weeks ago. It was to do with a lack of marking in one particular subject and I mentioned it to him with my, "don't want to make a fuss or appear difficult..." hat on. He said that as soon as I'd begun to be concerned I should have rung the school and asked to speak to the relevant teacher - as a parent himself he said he would always do that and never ignore something he wasn't happy with.

Bad exam result

Bad exam result

Re: Bad exam result