Who did we act for?
We acted for Georgia, who was entitled to rest breaks in exams due to a condition which meant her hands became inflamed.
During an A-Level Maths exam Georgia was accused of committing malpractice by using her calculator during one of her rest breaks. Georgia was, in fact, using the calculator to keep track of the length of each rest break to ensure that she did not exceed the total length of rest breaks to which she was entitled. When Georgia was asked by an invigilator to stop using her calculator, she did so immediately.
The Exam Board awarded Georgia zero marks for the exam, as a result of the allegation of malpractice and the perceived unfair advantage she gained. This impacted her ability to achieve Grade A for her Maths A-Level overall.
What did we do?
As Georgia was an internal candidate, the appeal against the Exam Board's decision had to be submitted by the College.
We therefore gathered all the relevant evidence and made contact with Georgia's College and asserted that the penalty was too harsh, for the offence alleged; and that no unfair advantage had been gained. This was because Georgia's exam paper had been removed and her screen covered during the rest breaks.
We persuaded the College to submit an appeal and were able to work with the College to ensure the appeal contained all the information the Exam Board required to consider the appeal.
We and the College requested the Exam Board consider the appeal urgently so that any revised result could be taken into account when Georgia's final A-level result was calculated.
The outcome
The Exam Board were persuaded by our arguments and upheld the Appeal. Instead of awarding zero marks for the exam, the Exam Board applied the lesser penalty of issuing a written warning against the use of a calculator in rest breaks in future exams. Georgie's result was subsequently issued without penalty, and she was awarded Grade A for her A-Level Maths.
Analysis of the evidence, exam guidelines and cooperation with the College were all essential to this very successful outcome.
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