I sat an ACCA in December 2007. The exam was due to begin at 10am. There was an accident on the Motorway and I did not arrive until 10.40am. I am an insulin dependant Diabetic and as I was running up a hill to get into the examination hall when I arrived my blood sugars were low. I got the attention of a lady who was one of the exam invigilators and she sat with me while I took some lucozade. It was now 11am and I was taken into the exam hall.
I was not allowed time at the end but when I got home I rang ACCA and explained what happened and I was told to put it in writing and it would be taken into consideration when my paper was being marked.
On the 15/01/08 I received an E-Mail from the examinations department asking for medical evidence that I had diabetes and that they needed that day. I rang my GP and they wanted me to forward the E-Mail to them and said that they would do this.
I got my results this morning and I failed. I rang ACCA to ask if they had taken my medical condition into consideration and they told me that they had never received any letter from my GP. I was advised to get back to my GP and to get them to send it again. When I spoke to my GP they told me that they did send it on 15/01/08 but would send it again. I rang ACCA later and they said that they didn't receive it again but would not remark my paper anyway.
Why am I the one that is being discriminated against - I should have been asked in December to forward a copy of a letter detailing my medical condition and it would have reached them as their faxes seem to be going astray.
Is their anything else that I can do for I feel like giving up for I do not like their attitude.
Many thanks
Deborah Houston
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Answer to question
Hi Deborah,
Sorry to hear about your predicament.
I suppose it all depends on your mark in the exam. If you had 45% plus for example then I think you should fight your case.
You can appeal against your mark for it to be remarked which costs about £75. I think the details are in the ACCA magazine. You could supply your GPs details with the application to be remarked. I believe if ACCA subsequently pass you they refund the fee.
If of course your mark was low like say 30% then I think you should just give up on appealing. The ACCA's stance I imagine would be it is not their fault if there was traffic congestion and cannot pass everybody who says they had problems.
If you had a low mark then the best you can hope for is that they give you a free go at the exam next time.
Don't give up though on your ACCA qualification.
...
I once forgot my glasses for an exam (not an ACCA one) and thus spent a few hours with my nose literally brushing the paper (as I am incredibly short sighted in one eye).
I used to walk without my glasses on (as I was young and we were still in the 'glasses make you look stupid' era) and so through forgetfulness I was severely hindered in my exam.
My disability cost me a lot of marks, and I think the fact I even managed to stay within the lines was a miracle personally.
In future plan ahead better, if you have a condition agrivated by rushing around then leave earlier so you don't end up rushing? And if you see an issue on the horizon like lack of blood sugar then make sure you take some before it has longer effects (I assume you carry things to control your blood sugar each way?).
Oh, and while I do think you should pursue this with the ACCA it is 100% your fault for every aspect of this tale.
You didn't leave enough time to allow for traffic.
You didn't manage your blood sugar correctly.
You should have made sure they had your letter (I rang daily after sending in my diary recently to make sure they had it and were on it!)
Back to basics
As a physically disabled person myself, with a problem which is aggravated by driving distances, I take great care to ensure that I do not have to travel distances immediately before important events. As a previous poster put it, find a local hotel for the night before to avoid these issues. Not a fan of Travellodges though - I prefer to find a hotel with a pool for a gentle morning swim to ease the physical problems prior to the start of the event.
I would never dream of asking for a remark of an exam paper in the circumstances outlined by the original post. The sole cause of her failure was her inability to organise matters so that she could be at the exam centre in plenty of time. The problem with her diabetes is simply a smokescreen for this inability.
However had she been present on time, and then had a problem with her diabetes which meant she missed part of her exam, then I would wholly support a remark of the exam in those circumstances.
My suggestion to the original poster would be to reduce your stress levels by accepting the result of the exam, concentrate on passing next time and ensure you find local accomodation for the night before!
Agree with Neil
Deborah is not asking that she be passed, she is asking for the ACCA to remark the paper taking this into account.
As I previously mentioned, they obviously do take this into account, otherwise why would they have asked her for evidence of it from her doctor.
No Tony
You're just demonstrating that you don't understand. You don't take insulin when your blood sugar is low, you take it when it's high. When a diabetic looses their sugar awareness, they are unable to tell that they are heading for trouble.
When you take your insulin, you have to anticipate what is going to happen to you, and unexpected events, such as extra physical exercise, throws that calculation off. When that happens to me, I can feel it coming on and can take some glucose to counteract the issues. Deborah has lost the ability to sense that, hence the problem.
I'm not being an appologist for Deborah's lateness, that's either a lack of planning, or bad luck or both. However it is important to understand that the consequences for a diabetic are much more significant that for a non-diabetic because the effects on metal capacity caused by low blood sugar can persist for quite a while after the physical effects have subdued.
The main thrust of the disability discrimination act is to ensure that the disabled are not disadvantaged purely due to their disability. Employers and service providers carry the onus to ensure that this disadvantage is mitigated as far as reasonably possibe. In my view, the ACCA have failed to live up to their responsibility in this respect. That doesn't mean Deborah should be given a pass, but I think a remark of the paper in the light of the circumstances is a perfectly reasonable thing to request.
Neil
Not being abusive! and appologies if thats how its sounds but....
I think its fair to say that this lady only has herself to blame for the situation she is in.
facts
she failed to administer her own insulin despite knowing her blood sugar was low - surely there is no excuse for this.
she failed to account for any possible problems with getting to the exam.
she now wants to be passed for a fail that was caused by her own actions
Deborah
You can regain your low sugar awareness. Have you heard of DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating). As part of this protocol you can teach yourself to feel the lows. Mind you need to be a Type 1 to switch to DAFNE.
quit moaning!!
You have already admitted here that you didnt administer you insulin properly on the morning of the exam - you only have yourself to blame.
regardless of the accident, the exam would have stressed you out and presumably been in a similar situation anyway. not looking after yourself is your mistake not ACCA's.
Get studying
Deborah you seem to be missing one vital point - if you'd been on time your diabetes wouldn't have been an issue! Most people would think "gee there might be traffic and I don't want to be late or worse still late and stressed so I'll plan for that". You know you have diabetes and obviously thought ahead enough to change your insulin level so why did you not have the common sense to leave early?? If you know that your diabetes will be agravated by running up a hill or whatever then logically you'd make sure you weren't going to put yourself in that situation. If your route is on a motorway well duh, motorways have accidents at the drop of a hat. When I was doing my ACCA exams I was always in the exam centra car park an hour or more ahead of time so that I wouldn't be stressing as I know that I get stressed easily. Strangely enough I wasn't the only one there early. Stop making excuses and admit that you made a mistake. Then get studying and while you're at it spend some time finding the nearest Travelodge or similar. Hey you might even be able to have a yummy cooked breakfast before your exam!
Steven
Yes I was late because of the traffic but that is not what concerns me. I agree with the comments being made about leaving earlier or staying overnight somewhere nearby for the traffic is unpredicable as it is very busy in the mornings. BUT - To backup what Neil has already pointed out about diabetes - I have lost the symptoms of my blood sugars going low. On the morning of the exam I took less insulin hoping that my blood sugars would not go low but when I came across the accident on the motorway I panicked and I knew that I would be late and anything like that would have an affect upon your blood sugars by using up your insulin and thus reducing your blood sugars.
I knew that I would not have got extra time due to the accident but I thought that I would have got extra time due to my diabetes. Even when my GP faxed through the letter ACCA kept saying that they never received it and my GP faxed it again on Monday and they said that they never received it!!
Do read this?
If you want to read a poorly researched and very misleading article, then do read this.
My experience
I once sat for the Diploma of the UK Institute of Marketing.
The exam venue was given in the docket to be as such and I conveniently made my way to the correct centre that afternoon.
To my surprise, there were no candidates there for awhile and on enquiry, I was told that they have changed to another centre a distance away.
There was no public transport and I do not own a car. In a rush, I made my way to the centre on foot.
Thanks to all the kind residents around who showed me around.
I made it to the centre, only to find out that I was an hour late.
I explained to the chief invigilator and he allowed me in to the exam hall.
At the conclusion of the 3 hours written exam, I was told to pass up my answer script but I explained that I was late due to the change of venue unknown to me. They asked me why I was not in the morning session. I had to tell them that I had already pass the morning session paper.
After awhile of thought, the invigilator allowed me to continued writing and the chief invigilator purposely shyed away from me for reason of guilt, perhaps.
I didn't have much adrenalin to write so well that evening and passed up my paper after an extra 10 mins, but I passed that paper though I felt I didn't perform that well enough.
What could happen if I failed and asked for a remark? Or I complained to the exam board of the Institute of Marketing?
Write to the President
Have you written to the President of the Association? Often, in big organisations, people at the lower levels of authority have little discretion and so go by the book. The top person can cut through the red tape and come up with a sensible answer. It may not work but is worth trying.
I have nursed a similar grudge since 1983.
How can anyone be awarded a 'U' in an English Literature O Level. A 'U' for goodness sake ... and I was one of only about three people in my class who had actually read the books being examined!
Thank goodness Accountancy was there as an alternative career path.
Today's Moral
The moral of the story is:
In the same way that you should stay at an airport hotel the night before you fly away on holiday to ensure that you don't miss your plane due to unexpected calamities such as road accidents, so you should ensure that you stay at a travel-lodge close to the exam centre before you sit important professional exams so that all your hard work isn't wasted.
Easy isn't it!
I know how you feel
Hi Deborah
I am not a Diabetic but I was once late for an ACCA exam.
For some reason, and I still don't know how it happened, I overslept the morning of an exam. Once I realised I was out of bed and into the car in a shot and got stuck in traffic (there had been an accident on the motorway).
I arrived 1 hour 20 minutes late (for a 3 hour exam) and persuaded the invigilators to let me take the exam and I think I got 30%.
As I had just arrived late for my best paper, I thought I could get the ACCA to take the events into account to acheive a referral overall. I got a letter from the police to confirm that an accident had taken place on the motorway and the severity of the accident.
The ACCA would not take this into account and I had to take all the papers again and passed.
My advice would be to forget about appealing and learn from the experience. Don't give up on the exams because they are invaluable for your long term career prospects.
Whatever you do, good luck in the future.
Dave
Leeroy
You said What would happen if in a real life situation if that extra 2% wasn't applied in adequate advice? Would the client give extra credit for the illness for any mistake or bad advice given? No.
Actually, I find that people are very supportive on the very rare occasions I have had a problem. I would not be so stupid as to carry on working if I felt my ability was compromised. Trouble is that you can't do that in an exam, can you?
Steven
If you read my posts properly, you will see that I stated that being late was not a good reason for remarking the exam.
My comments have nothing to do with being in the public sector, but do have to do with the fact that:
- I have a working understanding of the DDA
- I am a diabetic and know how relatively trivial events can have very serious effects on your ability
If a non diabetic suddenly finds they have to run or walk quickly to make up for lost time, they might arrive hot, flustered and tired. If a diabetic does that, they might arrive hot, flustered, tired, incoherent, in an apparently manic state or even fall unconscious. I can assure you from personal experience that this is extremely distressing. For a non-diabetic, the nearest similar state would be produced by drinking half a bottle of alcohol in about 15 minutes. Media portrayal of diabetics is usually completely wrong. It's not a lack of insulin that causes immediate problems, it's a lack of blood sugar.
Neil ...
she was late because the traffic was bad and she failed to allow for it. I think you have become infected by the public sector bug!
Making excuses
From the start, I would like to point out that my brother is diabetic.
Let's say that the exam was increased from 48% (fail) to 50% (pass)after an allowance was made for the personal circumstances.
What would happen if in a real life situation if that extra 2% wasn't applied in adequate advice? Would the client give extra credit for the illness for any mistake or bad advice given? No.
Accident on motorway - tragic, but could have been advoided, leave earlier or stay nearby overnight.
Diabetic - terrible but individuals need to cope, my brother does.
Maybe the candidate should study harder, leave earlier and aim to pass first time and not rely on special circumstances. If the first hour was used in the exam then maybe the pass rate would be acheived. In this case, resit in June and forget about trying to wangle an exam.
I agree with G
A diabetic suffering from low blood sugar has their mental functions impaired. How bad and for how long varies between individuals but I suspect that even after 20 minutes, most diabetics would still be suffering to an extent.
The Disability Discrimination Act does not support some of the opinions posted here - the onus is not firmly on the disabled individual to 'cope' with their disability, reasonable adjustments need to be made.
Being late for an exam is not a basis for remarking the paper (although many eaxminers would allow extra time). Sitting the paper after suffering a hypoglycaemic episode is.
Think some people are being a little harsh
I seem to think people are missing the point here.
Rightly or wrongly, the ACCA obviously do take this sort of eventuallity into account, otherwise why would they have requested evidence of the condition from Deborah.
So why now should they not remark the paper with this evidence. If the examinations department requested this information, they must be able to see that it was brought to their attention almost immediately after the exam. This isnt a case of someone 'trying it on' after receiving their results.
Whether they accept this evidence and improve her marks is a different matter, but I dont think this is what Deborah is complaining about.
Personally, I agree that the traffic should not be taken into account. But not allowing her extra time due to her diabetes should be. If someone else without the condition was caught in the same traffic, they would have only missed out on 40 mins of the exam. So why should Deborah be penalised for the extra 20 mins missed out because of her condition.
It Isnt the end of the world
This isnt meant to be as condescending as its sounds, but as much as it feels like it, it isnt the end of the world and its only one paper.
As I see it you were late due to traffic - damn annoying but you have to allow for it and sadly you are diabetic which doesnt help.
But it honestly is only one paper and you may be better concentrating on stuying and have another go next time. I can say that now as an FCCA after a few failed papers!
If you really missed the pass by 1 or 2 marks I'd pursue it if not put it down to experience.
Another point - it can actually help in the long term by increasing your knowledge to sit the paper again.
Learn from your mistakes...
You were late to the exam because of traffic, not the ACCA's fault. You should have allowed for this possibility & left home earlier. Likewise, whilest I'm sympathetic to your condition, the rules must apply to everyone. They gave you the opportunity to present medical evidence of your condition & didn't receive it. Its not up to them to chase it, I'm sure they get plenty of people ringing up to try it on so they can't follow up on every call. You could have rung them back to check they'd received it but I'm guessing you didn't. Study hard, plan your journey to allow for these things & do your best in the conditions you have in future. Don't blame others for your lack of planning.
Sorry but...
surely the traffic problems would affect everyone attending that exam hall yet I'm sure the vast majority of them took it into account and left early just in case.
if you dont factor in such eventualities for such an important day then you only have yourself to blame for being late!
as for being diabetic, again this is controllabel by you, had you arrived on time, you'd still have had a big hill to walk up and presumably would still have been in the same condition as you were when you arrived late, ACCA can't be blamed for you failing to control your own condition - there really is no excuse for trying to use this excuse.
I dont think your lack of preparation or foresight are suitable grounds for passing
Not wishing to sound unsympathetic ...
but if I had failed to take account of the traffic before the most important exams of my life then I wouldn't be looking too far for someone else to blame. Maybe you are owed 20 minutes for the recoup period but for the other 40 minutes you were just late. Next time get a Travelodge room close to the exam centre.
DDA
If I were you, I would point out that diabetes is a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act and ask the Association if they consider that they have taken the correct approach to this matter. Having informed them of your medical status, was it reasonable of them to interpret a lack of a communication form your doctor as evidience that you were lying? No, of course not.
It bugs the hell out of me that diabetes is not really recognised as a true disability. If you had turned up late and distressed in a wheelchair, I dare bet that the situation would be very different. Because well controlled diabetics lead a normal life for 95% of the time and look and behave like 'normal people', you tend to slip under the radar.
Giveup or shut up? No bl**dy way. Shout it at the top of your voice (to plagiarise James Blunt)!
As you might guess, I'm an insulin dependant diabetic, too.
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I am going through severe depression due to some ongoing family issues and not able to concentrate on my exams but with the same mental state I managed to sit Dec 09 attempt (ACCA). I have got my GP letter and a letter from medical counselling stating my situation, they have also referred me for CBT and I am already taking medicine (Escitalopram) for depression.
With the same state, I sat June 09 exams and managed to pass one but failed the other. At the time I wasn't aware that I may inform ACCA for my mitigating circumstances.
I heard that I may inform ACCA about my situation under ‘mitigating circumstance’. Coudl someone please advise me the procedure and any further suggestions to help my application would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks,
D
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I am going through severe depression due to some ongoing family issues and not able to concentrate on my exams but with the same mental state I managed to sit Dec 09 attempt (ACCA). I have got my GP letter and a letter from medical counselling stating my situation, they have also referred me for CBT and I am already taking medicine (Escitalopram) for depression.
With the same state, I sat June 09 exams and managed to pass one but failed the other. At the time I wasn't aware that I may inform ACCA for my mitigating circumstances.
I heard that I may inform ACCA about my situation under ‘mitigating circumstance’. Coudl someone please advise me the procedure and any further suggestions to help my application would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks,
D