failing my RE GCSE - due to poor handwriting

Alicia2019

In classes, my teachers have continuously been telling me that my handwriting is quite hard to read and I have been informed that they may refuse to mark my paper because of this. Recently, I took my RE GCSE, and personally I did think what I wrote was pretty decent however now I am worried that certain questions will not be marked if they're too hard to read (even though I did try to write neatly) and I'm quite concerned this will seriously lower my grade. (It doesn't help that I used a thicker pen as well) I'm really worried about this especially since this may impact my other GCSEs next year as well. :frown:

Reply 1

yaseen1000

My hand writing was quite poor during A levels . I recommend you speak with your tutor or year manager and see if you can use a laptop to type in the exams

Reply 2

Alicia2019

Thanks, I definitely will ask but I doubt they'll let me as they may not see it as a valid excuse. :frown:

Original post by yaseen1000

My hand writing was quite poor during A levels . I recommend you speak with your tutor or year manager and see if you can use a laptop to type in the exams

Reply 3

latinfanatic

Dont worry i have the utmost poorest handwriting :smile:

i still did really well

Reply 4

Future Physics

If you can't use a laptop then you can practice neat handwriting but when I say practice I don't mean repeatedly writing the same lines over and over again until you get better because I tried that and it didn't work for me because I was getting better at doing it wrong. You need to do 'good' practice which means writing neatly and then turning that into a habit. You might be slow at first and that is okay take all the time you need because once it is done you shouldn't need to think about it again. Good luck :smile:

Reply 5

epicnm

In my school, those with very poor handwriting which struggled to be read are given laptops or typing devices to use in lessons and in exams. Try speak with the exam officer or special needs department in your school about your issues. If they don’t take it seriously, ask your RE teacher to ask on behalf for you in order to achieve a higher grade as after all it is in the schools interest to help you succeed.

Reply 6

liaente

If you can learn poor handwriting, you can learn neat handwriting. If you're really worried, I'm guessing you'd do anything. Print out some nice practice papers. I don't know if you like neat or cursive, but there are literally tons on the internet. Seriously, don't stress or worry, you'll deal with it when you get your grade back. Getting it sorted when you don't even know the outcome is like counting your chickens before they hatch. Not worth it.
And GCSE examiners are not going to be that harsh on you. I got a 0 for my mocks due to my poor handwriting, but I practiced and wrote less but more concrete stuff, saved my life and I answered all the questions :smile:

Good luck mate! Stop overthinking.

P.S - https://www.k5learning.com/cursive-writing-worksheets/cursive-alphabet

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 7

Alicia2019

One problem with how I write is that its very slanted to the left, which makes some of my letters look incredibly similar. Its quite hard for me to shift the slant, especially since I hold my pen a really weird way (according to some people). I know if I slightly shift the slant on some letters like t's and x's, they'll look more legible however when I'm in exams, I feel immediately rushed to actually finish the paper on time and that makes my handwriting a lot less legible. I feel like when I try to speed up to stay within the time limit given for the exam, my handwriting really messes up as I'm writing way too fast. Thanks for your help though :smile:

I appreciate it.

Original post by Future Physics

Reply 8

Future Physics

Have faith in yourself. I used to be like that too and when you overcome that and the pressure of having to answer questions under time conditions you'll feel a lot better. :smile:

Original post by Alicia2019