Today I had a Drama exam. This blog is about that exam, but probably not about it in the way that you'd think. I'm not going to talk about how it went, what questions I answered or whether or not my hand ached afterward.
I'm going to talk about how it was organised.
My Exam was in the hall. Also in the Hall was the GCSE History Paper, which some of my sister's friends were taking. Their paper was two hours long to our two and half hour one.
When I got home from going to Jane's after the exam, Charlotte (my sister) was telling Mutti about how her friends felt really bad about being in the same room as us, and having to leave half way through and therefore disturbing us. My Mum too said it was pretty bad, having put us in the same room.
I, however, hadn't even thought about it like that. I'd just gone 'Oh, they're in the hall too. Fair enough, we're all going to be silent anyway.' Ok, so they were a little noisy after they'd left, but I wouldn't say they'd been a disturbance in any way other than that.
The point I'm trying to make is that I am so used to my exams being in rooms with other exams, or people leaving half way through - I took Triple Science GCSE, most of that was watching people leave before you - that I didn't even think it was odd, whereas my mum and sister, and her friends, thought it was awful. My Mum was seriously considering writing a letter of complaint, I believe.
At the end of our exam we had to sit in our seats, in silence, while the teachers faffed around collecting Lysistratas and Twelfth Night Notes, handing out forms to be signed - Mine had already been given to and signed by someone else before they realised that it wasn't theirs. It had to be crossed out. I hope that doesn't affect it in any way. - and then called everyone to sign their notes. Why they couldn't have said this at the beginning, given out the forms to be signed at the beginning, or even straight after the exam, while the were collecting they could have been given out, I don't know.
My sister also told me today about another school exam failing. A girl in her year had Leukemia. She's recovering now, but due to chemotherapy her nerves are damaged and she finds it hard to concentrate unless she's alone, or as alone as you can be when taking an exam, and so she asked to be given a room to herself for her GCSEs. She's been put in a room with other people who have to be seperated. Although this is better than being in the full exam hall, she still finds it very difficult to concentrate, and with the amount of rooms in our school, you would think that one of them would be available. Another girl in my sister's year gets occasional panic attacks in exam time. This girl has been given a room to herself. This, to me, just doesn't seem fair. A Girl that has fought Leukemia, and that wants to do well in her exams and become a Doctor is being denied a fair chance at that.
I've written this blog with what I think is the facts, if they're not, I'll change them. If school, for some reason, find this, I honestly don't care. I've left school now, and I think that these things need to be said.