Arthur

*Please note the student’s name has been changed to maintain confidentiality. 

Authors: Kevin Mason (Senior Assessment Researcher, Pearson), Dr Liyuan Liu (Senior Assessment Researcher, Pearson)

Citation: Mason, K & Liu, L (2023) Modified exam papers: Arthur's story.  Available at: Modified exam papers case studies (Accessed: 30 October 2023).

Arthur is a Year 11 student from a specialist secondary school with a vision impairment (VI) unit in England. Although Arthur had some experience of large print materials from when he first started school, more recently he has used braille. We met Arthur twice, once when he was in Year 10, and then again in Year 11 shortly after he had taken his mock GCSE exams and his first external exam, for a Level 2 vocational qualification.  

He spoke to us about his journey of using different modifications and we explored his experiences of moving back to large print materials in 2021 (when he was in Year 9).  

Our key findings:

• Make sure modifications match students’ requirements. 
• Some students with VI use technology to cope with challenges associated with handwriting. 
• Students with VI encounter challenges when using diagram booklets. 
• For students with VI, preparing for exams is more than just the question paper. 

1. Make sure modifications match students' requirements 

When Arthur first started school, he was given large-print materials to use. Soon after however, the decision was made for him to switch to braille, a medium he felt less comfortable using. He told us, ‘It wasn’t really something I was consulted on. They just went, ‘here’s braille’. For Arthur, large-print materials are much easier for him to use than braille. 

At Arthur’s school, specialist teachers initiate conversations with their students about their feelings towards the modifications to their assessments. These conversations helped Arthur discuss his desire to move back to using modified enlarged papers. The specialists were able to support him in trying different modifications to find the one that he was most comfortable with. Moving away from braille to modified enlarged papers is a significant change, and Arthur and his teachers were able to make this happen with the minimum amount of disruption to his learning. Arthur’s experience of this transition was positive, and this is something he would encourage others to do. He reflected, ‘I started large printing in Year 9, that’s quite a late stage to start, and we took a bit of a gamble doing it. But being able to try all these different options in one place without having to think ‘I might need to sacrifice this set of exams to try this’ and being able to do it in a way where there's no stakes, you can just do it. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. That would probably be quite helpful for people in my situation.’ 

2. Some students with VI use technology to cope with challenges associated with handwriting 

Arthur’s eyesight improved a little between our two interviews with him. When we first met in Year 10, he used a thick black pen in his exams because it was easier for him to read. Unfortunately, this meant that ink would often bleed through the pages, making the opposite side of the page more difficult to read. As a result of this he told us, ‘I prefer single-sided… especially when you have diagrams on one side, you get the ink kind of bleed through… and I personally find that really distracting’. 

Arthur told us that one of the hardest things about moving to modified enlarged papers was that he had to learn to write by hand again because he had not written anything since he started using braille at primary school. He expressed concern that the examiner might struggle to read his handwriting and told us how it’s not something he finds particularly easy. When we met him at Year 11, his handwriting had started to improve, having practiced it in preparation for his exams. Jovially he told us, ‘Put it this way, I can actually read it now!’ 

He still prefers to use a laptop whenever he can. He told us, ‘I am a computer person… from about Year 3 to Year 7 I did not write anything at all. And I find through that I’ve become so proficient on using a PC, it just feels natural.’ This means that for most of his language-related exams, Arthur gets a PDF copy of the modified papers, and types his answers, rather than writes them.  

Continuing, Arthur told us that he would like the flexibility to change the text and background colour of the papers, ‘I’m a big fan of white on black [white text on a black background]. I think that even people who aren’t visually impaired would probably go ‘yes, this is more [comfortable]’, especially if you’ve got to do two exams a day, every day, for three weeks straight…’ 

Typing his answers means he doesn’t have to worry about whether his handwriting is clear for an examiner to read but on the other hand, it also means having to wait around at the end of the exam even longer, making sure that everything is saved securely, printed and signed. Arthur doesn’t, however, find it convenient to type in all subjects. Emphasising his earlier point about using the modification that he is most comfortable with in any situation, he sticks to writing by hand in maths, and for some questions in science. 

3. Students with VI encounter challenges when using diagram booklets

When using A3 booklets with 36pt bold font, Arthur has a lot of material that he needs to put on his desk, especially for question papers with an extra booklet of diagrams, as he will also get a booklet of tactile versions of these diagrams alongside it. Although he recognises that others may feel differently, he likes it when papers come with a separate diagram booklet1. He particularly likes it when it is held together with treasury tags, rather than staples ‘especially the nice big, long treasury tags, they’re nice to just fold over [the pages]’. Treasury tags also give more versatility, if he wants to take a page out of the booklet he can. He finds that stapled booklets easily tear because the A3 booklets tend to be thicker and heavier, and pages can’t easily be removed. Although it can be awkward to have to go back and forth between two A3 booklets showing diagrams and questions, it means that he can always make sure the diagram is visible when answering questions on it. 

Arthur makes use of tactile diagrams as well as a modified enlarged diagram booklet alongside his modified enlarged papers. He finds them helpful when it comes to reading and understanding, telling us, ‘although I still prefer large print, it’s still nice to have that tactile element to it’. However, he sometimes finds it frustrating that the tactile diagram booklets tend to have smaller fonts on the labels, which he finds difficult to read, ‘I think they are 18-point labels… I mean I can read 24 just fine… just something bigger, because 18 is too small’. 

The other thing he sometimes has difficulty with is the thickness of gridlines in some of the large print diagram books, which he finds is one of the aspects that vary most widely between different Awarding Organisations. He explained, ‘[When the squares in graphs are small] either the lines are too thin, or they’re thicker but they are so close together where I can’t even count them with my fingers. And my fingers are too fat, so I end up having to try to use a pen, and then draw another line on the paper’. He also finds that being presented with a graph full of lots of thick lines can make the diagram very busy-looking, and more difficult to read.  

4. For students with VI, preparing for exams is more than just the question paper

For Arthur, an important part of taking the exam is working out where everything needs to go on his desk, with two A3 booklets, tactile diagrams, pens, a calculator, stickers to help him go back to questions he wants to check, and often a computer with a word processor to type answers, it can often be quite busy, although this is something he thinks he has got worked out through taking exams at school, ‘When you do it for three weeks straight, you get used to how you do it’. 

However, even after this, he found some surprises when it came to taking an external exam for the first time. The first thing he noticed was the front cover of his question booklet, ‘It was interesting to actually see an actual paper for a current day’. Because of his extra 50% time allowance and requirement for more room for his papers, he was able to take his paper in a familiar room in the VI centre, where he was used to the lighting as well as the fact it can get a little cold in winter. One thing that he initially found daunting, however, was the presence of an extra, external, invigilator. He told us, ‘Having someone else I don’t know before who is kind of constantly watching over… I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel right because in a normal exam, you have like 240 people and four invigilators. Whereas, you’ve got me, external invigilator, and internal, and that’s it. In a room. So, it’s quite strange’. 

Although he said that by the end of the exam, he had almost forgotten they were there, it shows that even for students who think they are prepared, the experience of a live exam has a different feel to it from what they are used to. 

Disclaimers and acknowledgements 

Disclaimers 

a. This case study is based on one person’s experience, which gives us a valuable window into the specific challenges and opportunities they encountered but may not be representative of all students.  

b. The above case study is part of the Pearson Modified Exam Papers Project, our interviewed student sat for subjects across four exam boards, and feedback was not linked solely to Pearson Edexcel GCSE exams.  

Acknowledgements   

We would like to acknowledge the important contribution towards the work in this case study from the school and our young student expert, in particular their support in the Modified Exam Papers Research Project 2022-2023.  

Furthermore, we wish to take the opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to our colleagues at Pearson UK, spanning various teams. These individuals include: 

Benjamin Redmond, Grace Grima, Hayley Dalton (Pearson Qualifications & Assessment Research Team) for their invaluable comments, feedback and professional support during the case study. 

Louise Denman and Rachel Laking (Modified Formats Team) for their role in highlighting the significance of conducting this research project and for providing recommendations based on the unique scenarios of students as presented in the case study. 

Joanna Biggers and Lesley Roberts (Communications & Engagement Team) for their noteworthy contributions and support in shaping the MPP campaign plan. Their meticulous review and editing of the case study have been fully appreciated.