Stopped during the exam, how to appeal

[drahoslavas]

Hi
My son was stopped during the exam and asked to explain what he is doing. He was filling up all the answers boxes in order to get as many answers as possible and than working through those he was sure about and correcting all those. He was told he is not allowed to do that and that he needs to read the question and than answer. He did not dare to guess any answer after this and it has not only unfortunately wasted his time but also any extra marks for the answers he would guess. He unfortunately was very confused by this all as he was always told to fill up as many answers as possible, he cried all the way home as we knew his great chance to go to school he wanted was definitely taken away from him. We wrote the complain to admissions and unfortunately it was all just paperwork exercise in my opinion, they had me write again and again the same thing taking it to next level and next level saying there was no record of him being stopped. Honestly I would be surprised if the lady who stopped him put it down and record that she stopped him as he was not doing anything that she should have stop him for. The last reply we got was conveniently on school allocation day morning, just b before we learned that he did not get to any of Grammar schools. He scored 214 which is amazing under the circumstances. But 1point under AGS AQS and far below for KES which was the school he really liked to go for. Our head teacher was also upset with what happened and was happy to support, she called to explain as well that she knows my son well he is absolutely by the rules boys and would never made up the story and he is a clever boy he did not have to make up the story, he would be just fine if left alone, but nothing happened anyway.I am not sure how to approach for appeal,should we appeal for both schools, or should we just forget about KES, or is it worth a shot? I am bit disappointed with the complain process, I thought if they are not sure he might have to re-sit the exams , but I was not expecting nothing will be done, so I am not very trusting appeal will work any differently. I feel bit sad for not being able to help my child, and for no fault of his own he might have to pay the price anyway and that makes me very helpless as a parent. But I now he will shine wherever he goes.

[hermanmunster]

Welcome to the forum!

there is lots of information here about the appeals process https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appea ... lification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Was your son filling in all the boxes at the beginning of the test ? or was this towards the end when there were some left?

[drahoslavas]

Thank you very much , I am new and wasn't sure where to look quickly for latest information
He was stopped during second paper when he was about half way through the questions, so he missed some answers on this one to finish and last full paper he was scared to guess any answers at all .
I thought he might be offered re-sit, or something else, but unfortunately only was informed that there is no record of him being stopped.

[hermanmunster]

I don't think they ever offer re-sits, setting a paper would be very difficult and deciding who could resit would be a nightmare.

Most kids guess in the last few minutes of the test - sounds like your son was doing this earlier on in the process.

Best thing to do is see where he is on the WL and get as much academic evidence as you can in preparation for the appeal. The important thing at the appeal is to demonstrate ability and then (as a smaller part)you can explain why he didn't perform as well as expected on the day