Terrible writing in exams... what will the examiner do?

My writing away from exams is really neat. When do my exam I'm in a state of panic and have so much information in my head I go crazy making sure I get everything down and meet the time limits. I end up writing super fast but my writing looks like scribbles sometimes.

Will the examiner completely ignore all the sentences with hard to read words or will they send it off to someone so they can check it really thoroughly? How do I write fast and neat? I'm concerned as I can't just translate the word to them like I can in school. I really do try to slow down my writing pace but then it becomes even scruffier.

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Reply 1

ACunningham

Original post by Magenta96

No. He'll more than likely rub one out because he's a socio-psycho-paedophile who gets aroused by two things:

Bad handwriting

Roadkill

I think my opinions on examiners are clear.

Reply 2

Lovefoxxx_93

I think they'd make a decent effort to decipher it, though they do have to mark a lot and can't afford to spend ages on a single one.

Reply 3

thecrimsonidol

Ah bad handwriting. I share your pain.

Reply 4

Ra Ra Ra

My friend has the worst handwriting imaginable, and the examiners have always been able to cope (she got As and A*s in essay subjects at GCSE). She leaves little messages at the end apologising to the examiner for her terrible writing, and ends with a little smiley face :tongue:

Reply 5

mr tim

Original post by Ra Ra

Possibly wouldn't read that anyway lol.

OP - examiners will try their hardest to read your writing, they have been reading a lot of scripts with various handwritings, good and bad, so they'll have come across bad ones, and I'm sure yours won't be the worst one they have came up against or will come against. I don't think it'll go to another examiner though.

Reply 6

Magenta96

Should I leave a message at the end apologising for my bad writing? If they read that they may be slightly less annoyed at me, do you think?

Reply 7

Lizzieeeee

Naa, I know countless people that do the same in exams (including me!). It's always a compromise between writing as fast as possible and actually making it legible! I cannot read my friends writing, it is the pointiest crazyiest stuff I've ever seen but she's never got below an A including English and history exams. The examiners really try their hardest.

The smiley face idea is kinda cute though...if you have the time to spare!

Reply 8

kaypc

i don't think you'll lose that many marks cos there's someone at my school whose writing is just terrible and he still managed 3A*'s at A level. god knows how the examiners managed to read his work.

Reply 9

ColdKant

I think that comes in the job description, it's almost impossible to
not expect different variations of handwriting.. most examiners
have tons of experience anyway so they've come across a fair bit
of 'good' and 'bad' handwriting :tongue:

Reply 10

Petro_99

my writing is awful.

i write on one line, then miss a line then write on the other line

its funny with essays as i have lots of answer books, and everyone looks at me like ive done lots of writing! lol

Reply 11

username984585

dont worry Im sure they've seen worse :smile:

Reply 12

J.Nalbandian14

I have the same problem, my subject teachers always tell me that it needs to improve and they always mark me lower when I hand past papers in to them.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 13

J.Nalbandian14

Is there anyway I can get exam papers remarked somehow, with some one else deeply reading my writing as teachers tell me that if they can't understand a word or sentence; then I will not be given a credential mark for it

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 14

Carnationlilyrose

In my experience as an examiner, the answer to the question is, 'Struggle, curse, try really hard, give as much benefit of the doubt as possible, then refer it to the senior examiner for a second opinion.'

Reply 15

Butterfly9595

I think it only has to be legible for the examiner to mark it - maybe practise writing stuff by hand whenever possible in neatish handwriting and that might gradually help you speed up, although you may not have time for that - maybe an idea for next time though?

Reply 16

Tcbl37_

I know this thread isn't active anymore but can someone help me!!! I don't usually write notes in my exam to the examiner but I did today because my handwriting was a mess so I just said sorry for the messy handwriting. I was okay till I read how people can get disqualified if they write notes to their examiner??? Is this true? I didn't write anything offensive :frown:

Reply 17

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by Tcbl37_

No.

Reply 18

Tcbl37_

Thank you! But I might lose marks if the examiner is grumpy/annoyed?

Reply 19

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by Tcbl37_

Thank you! But I might lose marks if the examiner is grumpy/annoyed?

Whilst being human beings and prone to moods as we all are, examiners are also professionals and work in teams to ensure that there is as little bias as possible. Stop fretting and do something useful instead of working yourself up.