This year’s GCSE results paint a stark picture of the challenges facing SEND students in England.
While 65% of students achieved a Grade 4 or higher in their English and maths GCSEs, just 13% of students who have an EHCP achieved the same.
We know that autism is the most common primary need amongst students with an EHCP, which indicates that many autistic students are leaving key stage 4 without achieving a standard pass rate in English and maths – despite their ability, and desire, to succeed. The same can be true of other neurodiverse students.
As a result, fewer of these young people reach A Level study, have lower point scores and, by aged 19, are around five A Level grades behind their peers.
Similar attainment gaps can be seen in the results for those students who have pursued Level 3 vocational routes including BTECs, although they are smaller.
Yet, exam results don’t reflect the full picture of personal and academic achievements, and for many autistic students simply sitting these exams is a significant milestone.
As such, it is clear that the system needs to evolve to provide neurodivergent children with the same opportunities as their peers to succeed.
Some of the biggest barriers to success that these students face ahead of any assessment can include sensory overwhelm, unfamiliarity and uncertainty, and inconsistent application of access arrangements.
All of these can contribute to increased feelings of anxiety, which we all know can impact a student’s overall performance.
The upcoming mock exam period offers a valuable opportunity to help overcome these barriers in readiness for formal exams.
Start planning early
Effective preparation needs to start well in advance of the mock exam period: suitable arrangements should be in place by Year 10 for autistic students.
While every child is different, we know that autistic children produce 42% more information at rest compared to their neurotypical peers, so additional time for processing is essential to avoid information overload.
What works best for a student is as individual as they are
Executive function challenges are also common in autistic children, who can often struggle with planning, organising, recall and impulse control.
A prompter can be helpful to draw their attention back to a task and keep them on track. Handwriting can also be difficult for autistic students, especially over long periods of time due to fine motor skill challenges.
In this case, a word processor or a scribe can help them to focus on the task rather than trying to overcome discomfort and pain.
Identifying access arrangements as early as possible and applying to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) will allow you to integrate these into your student’s mock exams so that they become familiar with them.
Build familiarity
Preparing for exams extends beyond providing suitable accommodations though.
Building familiarity around the exams process will reduce feelings of anxiety, breaking down one of the biggest barriers that autistic students face when approaching any form of exam.
At The Cavendish School, our approach to exams is rooted in a tiered approach that aims to make assessments less daunting for our students.
This starts with smaller weekly and end of unit tests and builds up to mock exams before students sit entry-level qualifications, GCSEs and BTECs.
Not only does this allow them to gain experience of the challenge, language and environment of exams, it also allows them to feel a sense of achievement.
If you can, show your students the exam room in exam conditions so that they can familiarise themselves with the environment. If not, can you show them a photo of last year’s arrangements?
Explaining where to go, where to sit, what happens if they need the bathroom or if there is an emergency will help to reduce feelings of uncertainty.
For students who struggle with executive function, a checklist of what they need to bring can be helpful and they can practice this during their mock exams.
What works best for a student is as individual as they are, so use the mock exam period to identify the strategies that will be most helpful in their formal exams.
Identify sensory needs
During the mock exam period, autistic children will often experience sensory processing differences, which can be challenging in the exam environment.
These experiences can heighten anxiety or cause intense discomfort, which naturally impacts their cognitive processing ability.
Balancing revision and exams with hobbies and rest breaks is important
Chewing provides useful sensory feedback for some of our students. So, we provide simple, easily digestible snacks that they can enjoy before their exams or during their rest breaks; this can also be helpful during the revision period.
After all, any period of intense concentration expends energy so replacing this helps to support regulation and concentration.
You should also work with your students to ensure that the exam environment meets their needs.
Dean Beadle, autistic advocate and speaker, recommends completing a sensory checklist with your students to assess any sensory challenges they are facing at school to identify what changes need to be made.
This approach, led by the student, helps to give them agency and control over an unfamiliar situation and can alleviate feelings of anxiety.
Make rest and revision time explicit
Balancing revision and exams with hobbies and rest breaks is also important, and it can be helpful to work with families on ways to incorporate them into their child’s day.
Visual, structured timetables that also include dedicated time for snacks, meals and exercise can be helpful: Chris Bonnello, an autistic former teacher, recommends blocking time for ‘rest breaks’ into revision timetables to make this explicit.
Decode the language of exams
Language plays an important role in how all students perform in their exams, and autistic children may be more likely to interpret exam questions literally.
By reviewing past papers and ‘translating’ what questions mean, you are setting them up to succeed. As an educator, you can review past papers to identify common terminology and themes to plan how your students can interpret these.
Using visual supports such as pictures, videos or flashcards can be useful to help scaffold understanding while practising papers helps to embed it.
The upcoming mock exam period presents an opportunity for both parents and educators to work together to reduce and remove the potential barriers that autistic children will face in their exams.
Not only will this give students the best chance to achieve their personal and academic aspirations but, more importantly, it will ensure that they emerge from the exam period without experiencing further emotional trauma.
*A version of this article will appear in the autumn issue of SENDsational Futures magazine
