6th form exam resit fees advice needed please...

shellsuit

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice, regarding my 16 (soon to be 17!) yo son, who is in Year 12.

He started 6th form last September, but for this particular course, he started on the 20th September.

We had a letter home to say that he had to resit an exam, which he had taken in January this year, but the problem I have with it, is that they say we have to pay for it, as per their policy...


Exam Fees
Students who complete the course are entitled to
one paid entry per module. The student will pay
for any additional resits. If a student resits any
module an invoice will be sent out in advance
and must be paid prior to the exam being sat.
Failure to do so will result in withdrawal from the
exam. Parent/carer will be billed for cost of
withdrawal.

...BUT, the course wasn't completed in January when they took the exam (they're still working on the course now!), so I don't see how they can charge any parent for this particular exam resit.

We've been in touch with the Director of the 6th form, who was about as much use as a chocolate teapot and who is adamant that the children didn't take the exam early, yet when we ask if the course has been completed, she says No??

We've been told to write into the head if we want them to waiver the fee, but it's not about the money, it's the principal of it.

If my son went into school with pink hair, he'd get into trouble, as per their policy, that isn't allowed, yet they are doing something contradicting their policy, and we just have to roll over and accept it?

Also, my husband phoned the exam board today, and a nice lady there told him that the earlier the school enter children for exams, the cheaper the fees are.

That to me, sounds like they are entering the kids in for these exams early, so that when they retake them and will cost more, we're the ones who have to pay for it, as if the school just entered them in for the summer exams, they'd have to pay the cost of them, which would be more expensive for the school.

The children that took these exams in January are all resitting, whether they got a good mark or not, so what exactly is the point?

Why can't they just do mock exams?!

I just don't see how they can say we HAVE to pay, as their policy states, when they haven't even done what their policy states.

Does anybody have any advice please because we will fight this all the way.

daisiegg

I would guess that although the entire course wasn't finished in January, the work for the particular module that was sat in January was finished. Otherwise the school is just mental entering them to sit an exam on something they have not taught!

I'm not sure there are different costs for January or June modules...are you sure the exam board didn't mean, the more notice that is given, the cheaper it is - as in, if you're entered for an exam only a month before the exam it is more expensive than if you were entered 4 months previously. I am pretty sure that January exams cost the same as June exams so maybe this is what they meant?

daisiegg

That letter doesn't mean that all the course has to have been taught by the time they sit a module - what it means is that the student is entitled to one sitting of each exam paid for by the school but if they drop out ('do not complete the course') they will be charged for that. So, had you son started the subject, sat an exam in January that the school paid for, and then decided in March that actually he was going to leave school and do an apprenticeship, for example, you would be presented with a bill for that exam he sat in January since he has chosen not to complete the course. So they have not gone against their own terms...

tibawo

Hi
I did GCSE science course. I had to do a practical and then three modules:
Biology, chemistry, physics. I sat an exam for each of the modules. As I had studied all the material for biology I sat that in January and the other two in June. I did not get the full award until I passed all three modules.

If I had failed the jan exam then I could resist this one in June. The fee for a jan or June exam is the same. If you pay before the school deadline then it is cheaper.

I don't know what course it is but check with your son who should know.

If it is a module then I suspect this is what has happened.

shellsuit

daisiegg wrote: »

I would guess that although the entire course wasn't finished in January, the work for the particular module that was sat in January was finished. Otherwise the school is just mental entering them to sit an exam on something they have not taught!

I'm not sure there are different costs for January or June modules...are you sure the exam board didn't mean, the more notice that is given, the cheaper it is - as in, if you're entered for an exam only a month before the exam it is more expensive than if you were entered 4 months previously. I am pretty sure that January exams cost the same as June exams so maybe this is what they meant?

No, they hadn't finished doing all the work for that January exam. My son was late starting it so had about 3 weeks less of teaching for it also.

I'll double check with the exam board, but my husband did say that the lady told him that the fees were cheaper if they took the exam in January, rather than June. I'll clarify that with him when he gets home

daisiegg wrote: »

That letter doesn't mean that all the course has to have been taught by the time they sit a module - what it means is that the student is entitled to one sitting of each exam paid for by the school but if they drop out ('do not complete the course') they will be charged for that. So, had you son started the subject, sat an exam in January that the school paid for, and then decided in March that actually he was going to leave school and do an apprenticeship, for example, you would be presented with a bill for that exam he sat in January since he has chosen not to complete the course. So they have not gone against their own terms...

I see what you mean, but that's not how the staff at school have explained it at all I'm afraid.

Basically if we don't pay for the resit, he can't do the exam. Then because they decided to put him in for it (without asking him or us) we have to pay the withdrawal fee.

The Director is adamant they didn't sit it early, yet the teacher of this particular subject says they did, and said they did it early because he thought it would give them a taste of what the exam would be like, for when they do it in June.

peachyprice

shellsuit wrote: »

Exam Fees
Students who complete the course are entitled to
one paid entry per module. The student will pay
for any additional resits. If a student resits any
module an invoice will be sent out in advance
and must be paid prior to the exam being sat.
Failure to do so will result in withdrawal from the
exam. Parent/carer will be billed for cost of
withdrawal.

...BUT, the course wasn't completed in January when they took the exam (they're still working on the course now!), so I don't see how they can charge any parent for this particular exam resit.

We've been in touch with the Director of the 6th form, who was about as much use as a chocolate teapot and who is adamant that the children didn't take the exam early, yet when we ask if the course has been completed, she says No??

We've been told to write into the head if we want them to waiver the fee, but it's not about the money, it's the principal of it.

If the course is modular, the first module is complete, they are working on the second, the course is complete when both modules are finished.

If you son has failed the module he has to resit it in order to get a high enough mark over both modules to pass the course.

shellsuit

tibawo wrote: »

Hi
I did GCSE science course. I had to do a practical and then three modules:
Biology, chemistry, physics. I sat an exam for each of the modules. As I had studied all the material for biology I sat that in January and the other two in June. I did not get the full award until I passed all three modules.

If I had failed the jan exam then I could resist this one in June. The fee for a jan or June exam is the same. If you pay before the school deadline then it is cheaper.

I don't know what course it is but check with your son who should know.

If it is a module then I suspect this is what has happened.

This particular subject is Media.

They hadn't completed all the work needed for the exam by January, and my son had only been doing Media for 10 weeks before he had the exam, I'm not sure how many hours that would be, that's something I'd have to look into.

mrcow

peachyprice wrote: »

If the course is modular, the first module is complete, they are working on the second, the course is complete when both modules are finished.

If you son has failed the module he has to resit it in order to get a high enough mark over both modules to pass the course.

It sounds that way to me too.

Although Shell seems to think otherwise? Are you 100% that it wasn't just that one module that had been completed and therefore sat? If so, then the entire set up sounds absolutely crazy and I would 100% take it further up the chain.

shellsuit

peachyprice wrote: »

If the course is modular, the first module is complete, they are working on the second, the course is complete when both modules are finished.

If you son has failed the module he has to resit it in order to get a high enough mark over both modules to pass the course.

I understand that now its been explained here, but that's not what the director is saying to us, so I'm even more confused

All the children who took it are to resit in June, whether they got a good grade or not.

The Media teacher even told us on the phone that they were put in for it early, so in January, instead of June, as he thought some of them could do well.

mrcow

I would never put any 16-17 year old in for an A level exam after only 10 weeks experience. They are far too inexperienced at that point. You should have been given an informed option of whether to take the Jan or June exam.

peachyprice

The thing is, they are public exams, everyone all over the country will have sat them on the same day, I doubt everyone who sat the exam hadn't finished the work for that module. It seems more like a failing on the teachers part for not teaching the correct material for that module.

When my sons did A levels I was shocked at just how short the AS/A years are, they are not a year each at all, by May the course will complete and they will be revising for the June exams, so just 8 months, minus 6 weeks holiday for christmas/easter/2 half terms. So really by the January exam they should have covered half the course.