Hello everyone,

I have entered one of my pupils into the March session theory exams. He is 17 and doing Grade One. However, I have noticed in his preparation that he writes some of his letters backwards, namely C and G. In a word, they turn out fine, but if it is a question such as 'Name the highest/lowest note', they will almost always be backwards.

Is this heavily penalized by markers? We've tried correcting the problem, but even when he checks over his work, he overlooks them.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Dear Diamond,

I've approached our Access Co-ordinator about your query.

She tells me that if we are informed on entry that a candidate has a learning difficulty, this is then passed on to the marker, who is asked to be aware that neatness and copying out may be particularly difficult.

In addition, if a candidate has a particular problem such the one you describe, we would be happy to pass on specific information to the marker, so that they can keep an eye out for it on that candidate's paper.

I've just noticed that you say you've already entered your candidate for their Theory Exam. If you didn't send a covering letter with your entry, can you please give Esther Cann, our Access Co-ordinator a call as soon as possible so that she can notify the relevant people at the Associated Board? You can reach her on 020 7636 5400.

If you want further information on Access for Candidates, please take a look in the Exams section of our website under Special Needs.

http://www.abrsm.org/?page=exams/specialNeeds

Best regards

Christine Morris
Forums Administration

Hello Diamond

It's best to inform the AB about your candidate. I entered a pupil last year for grade 1 theory and he has Aspergers syndrome. His theory answers are vitually all correct (he only dropped a couple of marks in the exam) but his writing appears rather 'slapdash' and not always clear. Although he knew if a note waas supposed to be on a line or in a space, it wasn't always 100% obvious to others. The AB also asked if he needed extra time, but that wasn't necessary.

It wasn't his knowledge of theory that was a difficulty, but his ability to make himself clearly understood on paper.

Hope this helps.

Rosemary.