We strongly believe that pupils are disadvantaged if they do not develop the skills of handwriting, and, while encouraging the development of ICT skills throughout the curriculum, we expect all pupils to continue to write by hand as their normal way of working throughout the senior school and in examinations. In exceptional cases a pupil may be allowed to use a laptop in lessons and internal exams if there is evidence of a learning difficulty or disability affecting writing fluency or legibility to a significant degree. In such cases, where a pupil has come to rely on a laptop as their 'normal way of working' then they will be allowed to use one in external examinations, under controlled conditions.
Some pupils with diagnosed difficulties may have had extra time or other access arrangements, such as the use of word-processing, in their Common Entrance. This does not automatically mean that they will get it for GCSE, which has to be administered according to Joint Council rules which are nationally agreed.
No one in the IVth Form is given extra time in the end-of-year examinations as the time allocation for each subject is quite generous. In the LVth, likely candidates are identified and assessed so that appropriate arrangements are in place in time for the first GCSE, which is always Religious Studies, taken a year early at the end of the LVth. Contrary to popular belief, it is now a school-based decision, not a decision taken by a psychologist, although obviously the psychological evidence is considered along with clear, school-based evidence of need. The new rules clearly state that extra time should be granted on a sliding scale of up to 25% for the worst cases and it would not necessarily apply to all subjects: for example, a pupil with difficulties generating written English would be unlikely to need it for Mathematics. It is not enough to have a diagnosis of mild dyslexia and weak spelling: we have to prove that the candidate has slow speeds of reading and writing.
Current Community 