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Fire drill during gcse exam

Hey so today I had history (wjec eduqas) and everything was really disrupted. The board sent out most of the papers but there was a problem, so we waited in the hall for 20+ minutes in exam conditions with blank papers in front of us. This wasn’t even the worst bit of today, it was annoying but didn’t affect anything.

Then, we handed in medicine and got USA. Halfway through the USA paper, the fire bell went off and we evacuated for around 5 minutes when we found it wasn’t real. When we went out, most of the people weren’t in exam conditions (I was) and now I’m just wondering what happens now. Also, everyone was talking about the questions, will anything happen to them? We think we’re getting special consideration but since it was not a real fire and we were back in within 5 minutes, how likely is this? Has anyone experienced anything remotely similar?

Reply 1

Original post
by notalice
Hey so today I had history (wjec eduqas) and everything was really disrupted. The board sent out most of the papers but there was a problem, so we waited in the hall for 20+ minutes in exam conditions with blank papers in front of us. This wasn’t even the worst bit of today, it was annoying but didn’t affect anything.
Then, we handed in medicine and got USA. Halfway through the USA paper, the fire bell went off and we evacuated for around 5 minutes when we found it wasn’t real. When we went out, most of the people weren’t in exam conditions (I was) and now I’m just wondering what happens now. Also, everyone was talking about the questions, will anything happen to them? We think we’re getting special consideration but since it was not a real fire and we were back in within 5 minutes, how likely is this? Has anyone experienced anything remotely similar?

You've done everything right by staying in exam mode and just powering through that’s honestly impressive. Hopefully WJEC takes all of this into account when marking if your school applies for special consideration.

They can apply if they want to as evacuation due to fire alarm is once of the recognised disruptions under JCQ rules, even if it wasn't a real fire.
But, because you guys could return and complete the exam with only a 5 minute disruuption during the live-exam period (once you recieved the papers), you most likely will not be given an alternative paper, but maybe a small % adjustment (usually between 1-5%) depending on the severity. It should be emphasised this is just my speculation based on chat's I've had with teachers during my GCSE period, doesn't mean this will happen, etc.

Factors the exam board consider are :
-Length of disruption?
-Exam conditions maintained during break?

And for people talking during the fire alarm, will that matter?
Well, it's technically a breach of exam rules, but it's up to the exam officer at your centre to report that if it's serious or for your school to personally escalate it.

What can you do now?
This is definitely a stressful experience and you're absolutely right to be asking these questions, I recommend you make your worries known to the school, if students complain they are more likely to do something, and let them know you wern't one of the individuals talking, as you don't want to be caught in the crossfire if disciplinary actions get taken.

Realistically now the best thing you can do is stay calm, and focus on the next exam.

Reply 2

Original post
by UniofLawstudent2
You've done everything right by staying in exam mode and just powering through that’s honestly impressive. Hopefully WJEC takes all of this into account when marking if your school applies for special consideration.
They can apply if they want to as evacuation due to fire alarm is once of the recognised disruptions under JCQ rules, even if it wasn't a real fire.
But, because you guys could return and complete the exam with only a 5 minute disruuption during the live-exam period (once you recieved the papers), you most likely will not be given an alternative paper, but maybe a small % adjustment (usually between 1-5%) depending on the severity. It should be emphasised this is just my speculation based on chat's I've had with teachers during my GCSE period, doesn't mean this will happen, etc.
Factors the exam board consider are :
-Length of disruption?
-Exam conditions maintained during break?
And for people talking during the fire alarm, will that matter?
Well, it's technically a breach of exam rules, but it's up to the exam officer at your centre to report that if it's serious or for your school to personally escalate it.
What can you do now?
This is definitely a stressful experience and you're absolutely right to be asking these questions, I recommend you make your worries known to the school, if students complain they are more likely to do something, and let them know you wern't one of the individuals talking, as you don't want to be caught in the crossfire if disciplinary actions get taken.
Realistically now the best thing you can do is stay calm, and focus on the next exam.

Thank you so much for the reply, it’s really helpful. Special consideration has definitely been applied for, though I’m not expecting a huge amount, though given everything it would be nice to atleast get something. I think we just got really unlucky, hopefully the board see that. Thank you for your advice and knowledge, it’s been very helpful. Luckily English language today was all good and it didn’t throw me too much 🙂

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