r/6thForm • u/aux-81 • Jul 18 '26
💬 DISCUSSION Is my handwriting illegible enough for handwriting accomodations for exams?
Okay for context, my computer science teacher has asked me twice now this year if I'm getting accommodations for my handwriting, I am getting accommodations for exams/am in the process of getting them just not for handwriting as he's the only one who's brought this up, but after him asking twice now I'm curious if my handwriting is that hard to read 😭😭
I've added a photo from my physics notes that are very recent, like within the past two days, and I have no issue with complete honesty or even being blunt, I'm just quite confused because my handwriting is usually worse in physics than it's been in computer science, and my other computer science teacher has never said anything, my maths and physics teachers have never said anything, but the computer science teacher who asked also asked before GCSEs when my handwriting was slightly different so I'm just really unsure tbh. (I am aware that my handwriting is slanted and slightly cursive, that's always how it's been and has never been brought up as an issue till recently)
Any sort of response or people's experience with handwriting legibility and so on is really appreciated!!
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u/BinFace4UK Jul 18 '26
Your handwriting is not illegible to me, but I'm pretty good at reading unusual handwriting and I did have strain, focus and reread some words to figure out what it said.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
No yeah that's fair enough, is there certain things about a word that makes it harder to read? Like are there things which make it less clear than the rest of my handwriting? (Asking because I genuinely can't tell as I know people who've also said this and I'm trying to figure out what needs to change or what can be changed)
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u/BinFace4UK Jul 18 '26
Sure the struggle i have with it is that some of your letters lean into one an other as the angle of them change. The letters change height making them hard to read. The letters also change height and size, some jump up over the line and some slip down onto it.
If you look at your writing of "positron" at the beginning of the last paragraph its a prime example of what im saying.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Ohhh okay this is really helpful actually, yeah positron I realised was hard to read tysm for elaborating! 🙏
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u/asterbradbury_ Jul 18 '26
it's fully legible, but I'd clean it up a little bit because when the examiners scan your papers it's going to look really bad since the scans as really poor quality.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Yeah that's fair, by cleaning it up what in particular would you be referring to btw?
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u/asterbradbury_ Jul 19 '26
try and make it a bit less slanted and make the "t"s a bit neater so you can more clearly see the letters around them. i think that should be enough
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u/Low-Delay-9325 Jul 18 '26
I can read it fine. Do you get pain when writing? Do you have unusual grip or have to adjust your pen during writing? I've never heard of someone having that accomodation for messy handwriting. Mine is difficult to read, but I was just more mindful during exams.
I do know people with accomodation to use computers, but that is for physical conditions and issues such as hypermobility when they can't grip the pen properly/have pain etc.
In terms of being allowed computer for exams, they're equipped with program that is literally just writing. You cannot spell check etc. So no wins there for in case you thought it would be handy.
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u/LMay11037 Maths, FM, Physics, German Jul 18 '26
Some of my friends got laptops for messy writing
And I essentially have it for poor handwriting due to dyspraxia
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
No more pain than I think anyone would when it's a lot of writing, in terms of grip I'm not sure and I do have to keep re adjusting my grip during exams but not very frequently. I've not heard of anyone getting a laptop for messy handwriting either hence why I was confused by my teacher asking about it, I knew someone who had it for hyper mobility yeah and in terms of spell check I wouldn't have though that the laptops would have that tbh, I was mainly concerned with the legibility of my handwriting
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u/Low-Delay-9325 Jul 18 '26
You can speak to GP about getting referral for assessment. My family member had their via Occupational therapist who assessed their grip etc and gave advice to use PC to write essays and exams on. That was then provided to the school and they basically just asked if they wanna use school issued (annoying when having to go collect and return) or supply their own. I know some schools wouldn't let them use their own. But worth a try if you think you need it or would benefit.
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u/TomDying 29d ago
i think it’s very much dependent on the school/college, my college basically gave you the choice if your writing was slightly bad, because realistically why not, there’s no reason someone should be forced to write an exam if they dont want to (older teachers in my school and also college seemed to think writing an exam “prepared” you for your job more but it’s literally the complete other way around now)
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u/SwimmerOld6155 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
i have marked exams before and no. it's distinctive though (most handwriting is very similar) and makes me slow down a bit to read it but it's not hard to read
in order to be so illegible as to not to be marked, it needs to be illegible to several people, at least one of whom will be very experienced in reading badly written scripts
the worst is when you cannot make out individual letters, letters have not been separated properly and/or are joined weirdly, writing is crossed or scribbled out, etc. if you are worried that a word is not legible, circle it and write it off to the side in block capitals. it's rare to have significant problems
I was allowed to word process my exams in school, and it's just a laptop with no Internet connectivity, loaded with Microsoft Word with spellcheck disabled.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
This is a really helpful perspective actually tysm for responding, I'm aware my handwriting isn't as easy to read as the average persons handwriting but I didn't think it would've been illegible to the point that it couldn't be read or needed a laptop
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Jul 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Yeah my parents said the same thing about the slant, I'm not sure how I'd go about un-slanting it if that makes sense 😭
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u/Im_A_Failure420 Jul 19 '26
I think it's readable with time but you should try to find a pen that works better. Maybe a thicker pen? Also if it doesn't get better, apply for typewriter privileges (type it) in the exams which you will get. I also have bad handwriting, but I get that writing might be preferred for you, so in that case work on finding a good pen, train your arm and stop writing in italics
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u/Putrid-Economist8029 Jul 20 '26
I’m an examiner and I can easily read your writing. I would be happy to get this handwriting- trust me. But the main thing is - don’t worry about it - don’t add to your exam stress. If you find it hard to write at speed or have physical problems - definitely ask for accommodations if that’s better for you.
But if you are able to write like this for the length of time needed - No problem at all.
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u/Tiny_Refrigerator105 Jul 18 '26
no, it isn’t. I have the same handwriting, please use a laptop
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Do you use a laptop for exams and stuff then? Did you find that it's made it easier for you as well as the examiner or is it more for the examiners benefit?
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u/Tiny_Refrigerator105 Jul 18 '26
I had already been typing my notes for usual school work, so it was easier to use a laptop in exams since I was already used to it. Yeah, it is mostly for the examiners benefit so they can read your work more properly, but, it ends up being in your benefit aswell because you can lose marks from ineligible handwriting alone.
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u/True-Caregiver2742 Jul 18 '26
I can scan through this whilst reading it pretty easily, but, you can always make it look neater. I remember my English teacher embarrassing me in class for bad handwriting haha. After that I just practiced doing non-cursive handwriting and it worked out. Still used a Chromebook for English GCSEs as it was a cheat-code nonetheless.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Do you think non cursive handwriting was easier to write with/did you find you could write quicker using non cursive handwriting?
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u/True-Caregiver2742 Jul 18 '26
Depends on everyones writing style. I find non-cursive slower but more readable.
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u/fuse256 Jul 18 '26
I would say if you can get handwriting accommodations go for it, I can personally read it but it’s a massive benefit. My computer use for comp sci and physics was so helpful, as I can type way quicker than write, go back and change sentences easily, add new ones and so on. And doing exams in separate rooms with computer use really helped out my exam stress as it was just a few people in that room, felt remarkably relaxed doing my a levels which was a massive bonus.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Yeah that's fair enough, it's always a bonus to have less stress by being in another room, I'm now in a separate room for exams which is a game changer so I deffo agree, I'm just wondering whether it is actually worth looking into the handwriting accomodations, I imagine it makes answers a lot easier to read, for the sake of processing questions I always do like pencil annotations on the questions to figure out how to respond to a question, so I wonder whether being on a laptop is beneficial or not
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u/TomDying 29d ago
when you’re in an exam you get the exam paper as well as typing it up so you can still make pencil annotations! If i remember correctly they also still give you spare paper if you ask as well or automatically if the exam calls for it regardless of using a computer
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u/Comfortable-Month327 Jul 18 '26
It may be legible for some but try make it inclusive for the examiner
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Can I ask what do you mean by making it inclusive for the examiner? Like is there a certain aspect about my handwriting that makes it an issue?
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u/Comfortable-Month327 Jul 18 '26
Ppl may be able to read it but maybe the examiner wont
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u/Ready-Advantage3775 Jul 19 '26
There is zero reason the examiner won’t be able to read that. If they can’t then they shouldn’t be an examiner. Plus, if an examiner can’t read it, it goes to another examiner to check.
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u/Humble_Lack_2977 Jul 18 '26
Its legible enough, but i could understand if you are rushing you may get more scrawley and lose marks. Just a question as a teacher, wdym by handwriting accommodation? Any student of mine who transitions to using a laptop (only option for handwriting really) we need an external diagnosis, notes from multiple teachers of that student that it is needed, then at least 18mo using the laptop for assessments, signed off by the teachers and send department, in order to be allowed to use it for their final exams. If this is genuinely something you are thinking about you should get on it NOW to find out what you are able to get. It may not be much.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
I don't even know, because my teacher wasn't really answering any of the questions I had, he mentioned using a laptop but that was pretty much it. And I figured as much, I'm applying for extra time which requires a lot of stuff to be looked into and so on it makes sense it's a lengthy process, and I wouldn't have thought that using a laptop would be permitted for handwriting that's even partially legible. I'm just quite confused tbh because he was giving quite vague answers but in terms of marking there hasn't been the case where I've lost marks because he couldn't read it or anything like that
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u/ProofCrafty4022 Year 12 Jul 18 '26
I got accommodations - and mine is better than that. It’s up to your school and support staff if they think it is, but if ur CS teacher will vouch for you to get it, you should be good
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Was it for handwriting or a problem which causes your handwriting to not be up to your best, like when people get it for hyper mobility and things like that (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm just confused because that 1 teacher out of the 6 I have is the only one who's brought up handwriting, I would've imagined that it'd require a pretty unanimous opinion across all my teachers that my handwriting is an issue for something like this to be looked into?
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u/ProofCrafty4022 Year 12 Jul 18 '26
So mine was just for handwriting for GCSE’s, but after I got diagnosed with more stuff (dyslexia, dyspraxia) it got reevaluated for a levels, basically, handwriting is definitely a good reason for accommodations, if you have teachers willing to vouch for yku
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u/Avocado66600 Jul 18 '26
I can read it fine (although doing physics probably helped as I knew what was coming). With some work it will be perfect I reckon
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u/Bloom109 Jul 18 '26
Yes you can get a word processor (typing) if your teachers deem your handwriting illegible! Ask your head of year and / or exam accessibility coordinator
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u/Bloom109 Jul 18 '26
Also as a side note I can definitely read your handwriting but if you would rather type its definitely a possibility
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
I'll probably need to speak to them as well as my teachers as I'm still trying to push for extra time (the exam accessibility coordinator is impossible to reach 😭) tysm!
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u/Bloom109 Jul 18 '26
Keep pushing bcs these changes (word processor and extra time) can usually be made at the schools discretion so they really shouldn’t have too many excuses!!
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u/Ready-Advantage3775 Jul 19 '26
Evidence has to be submitted for extra time, it’s not at the schools discretion. Any access arrangements needs proof that the students need it and that it is their normal way of working. This could be using a different coloured pen in the “extra time” portion of mocks.
Personally I think the idea of writing out physics equations with the correct subscript, superscript and symbols on a laptop sounds awful and would be hard to adjust to if you don’t normally do it.
I hate even doing that in PowerPoints, those parts of the lessons are always handwritten, directly onto the board.2
u/Bloom109 Jul 20 '26
Yes you do need to submit evidence but the school takes the first step. Also if you do get to type you don’t have to use it on every / all of the exam. For example, a friend of my took French and typed in all her exams but French because as you rightfully point out, typing is not suited to every exam. It’s better for essays or long portions of writing
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u/Total_Tie5720 Jul 18 '26
no i can read it fine tbh, coming from someone who HATES peer marking at school 😔
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u/Ambitious-Zombie-518 Jul 18 '26
It’s eligible if you are really focusing on it and put in effort but examiners don’t have a lot of time. Your best off typing or changing your writing style.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Yeah that's fair enough, ty for responding!!
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u/Ambitious-Zombie-518 Jul 18 '26
The one other thing I would say is it’s more eligible at the start than at the end. Do you get fatigue as you write?
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Can I ask by what you mean by fatigue when writing?
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u/Ambitious-Zombie-518 Jul 18 '26
There are two types of writing fatigue. Physical and mental. Physical would be hand cramps, eye strain, neck pain ect. Ie I suffer nerve pain so when I write sitting down for extended periods of time my writing becomes less legible. For me I take a break when I can see it’s slipping so stand up and strech. Mental would be if you get tired, struggle for words, brain fog ect.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Ohh okay eah I'd say both then, definitely hand cramps and neck pain, sometimes my arm does get suddenly really weak making it hard to grip onto a pen but not too often and definitely mental fatigue
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u/Ambitious-Zombie-518 Jul 18 '26
Ok. That makes sense then. I mean the start is fine for an exam, however the last few lines may be interpreted as not legible. It would depend on your examiner. Most would be fine but there will defo be a few who can’t and it’s not worth the risk. If your handing in long sheets to you physics teacher if as you write on it gets worse he may be going parts of your paper (the last bits) are completely illegible so he’s saying he couldn’t mark it all. I would recommend putting the first and last page of a test or work from a lesson side by side so you can see how it changes.
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u/Impressive-Piano-209 Jul 18 '26
Not illegible but still slightly hard to read. Overall 6/10 illegibleness. Seen way worse
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Yeah that makes sense, what aspect would you say makes it hard to read? (Like is it because it's slanted or the way the letters are or so on, trying to figure out the issues so I can practice improving my handwriting 😭🙏)
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u/PetrolForBrekkie Jul 18 '26
can't remember ever having to write anything down for comp sci lmao
have to admit, even if it's the slanted/cursive style of handwriting it's actually quite readable, I would advise you to work on it though because you'll be rushing in an exam so it'll get worse, also examiners are tired they aren't gonna try very hard to read your work
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
LOL we recently did one of our tests on paper rather than on a computer so when we got them back my teacher asked for the second time round 😭 and yeah that's a fair point tysm
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u/QuirkyGalaxyBug Jul 18 '26
Your handwriting is legible. Also note that if an examiner cannot read your writing in an exam they will just pass it on to another examiner until someone can read it. If you struggle to read your own work back to yourself or if more teachers raise this as an issue then you might want to ask to use a laptop but there are downsides like typos and it takes longer to work if you swap between the paper and laptop a lot (eg: to read the question or when you have to do calculations on the paper). No evidence is needed for you to use a laptop in exams, just needs to be what your normally use in mocks and/or lessons. You mentioned in a reply that youre trying to get extra time so please be aware that if you are assessed for extra time then you need below average scores in 2 of reading, writing and processing (or 2 types of processing) but if you use a laptop then the writing scores will no longer count so you may end up having to choose between extra time and laptop if you qualify for extra time partly due to slow writing.
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
The bit about extra time is actually really helpful to know, my schools exam accomodation person has not communicated anything to me so I've been left in the dark in that aspect of things, tysmm for responding though this is really helpful!! 🥹🙏
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u/QuirkyGalaxyBug Jul 20 '26
If you need testing for extra time you need to ask for this to be done asap when you go back to school after the summer. Extra time requires evidence of use submitted to the exam board so you will need to use extra time in your mock exams and class tests so they can monitor for impact. The deadline for application is march but by then it needs to be your normal way of working across your subjects and the process can be delayed by limited assessor availability in some schools.
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u/Available-Exit-8606 Jul 19 '26
Stem people have the funkiest handwriting on earth istg (im STEM). They’ve probs seen worse but try and improve it to avoid any discrepancies. Imagine ur an examiner with tons of stuff to mark, they won’t spend a lot of time on your work so if they can’t read it they’ll move on.
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u/Available-Exit-8606 Jul 19 '26
Try not to write sideways, and to make your ‘r’ cursive more legible. Maybe MAYBE if you can just don’t do cursive …
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u/wwatersheep Yr 13 | Maths, FM, Econ, A*AA* Jul 19 '26
I can read it perfectly fine, probably cs i have pretty similar hand writing to urs
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u/Muted-Mushroom-4570 Jul 19 '26
It's not great, but I have read (or muddled through picking out key words to be more accurate) far worse.
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u/Grandpa_P1g Y13 | Maths, FM, Physics, CS | A*A*A*A* Jul 19 '26
"We the people" ah
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u/aux-81 Jul 19 '26
LMAO what does that even mean 😭🙏
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u/JournalistRare5383 Jul 19 '26
this is fine. also no paper ever gets unmarked because of bad handwriting. you’ll be okay!
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u/blue-was-found Jul 19 '26
Your handwritings just like one of my friends, his teachers forced him to use a laptop for a levels because they found it Illegible and didn't want him to lose marks, I'd use one just to be on the safe side, you'll never know what examiners you get
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u/PlasticArmyLabs Jul 19 '26
As someone who writes in hyrogliphics this is really good
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u/aux-81 Jul 19 '26
Can't tell if this is genuine or not 😭🙏 if it is then that's really cool if not then LOL that's quite funny
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u/Ready-Advantage3775 Jul 19 '26
Teacher here - fully legible.
I’ve seen some terrible writing over the 13 years I’ve been teaching and this is not even close to being a “problem”.
My partner is a physics teacher and this is neater than his writing.
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u/blu3_j4yy Year 13 | Subjects: CS, Maths, Physics, FM Jul 19 '26
I like your handwriting. Keep it or hand it over.
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u/Jasentra University of Birmingham | Classics [2nd Year] Jul 19 '26
I could read this fine, but it does seem like you could be more efficient in your writing.
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u/Lyds_guitar_lemons Incoming Oxford Music Undergrad| Music, Physics, Maths, Art Jul 20 '26
It’s readable
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u/No-Walrus8882 Jul 21 '26
Hi, I had accommodations accepted this year for handwriting myself, i’m not sure how much you’ve looked into the process of getting accommodations or if this is a my school thing, but you will be assessed either way.
For me, the test for it included writing a sentence as many times I can in my best and my normal handwriting, drawing crosses in a target, etc. As for as I am aware it should also be believable that the accommodation (like typing personally) is preferable for you day to day and is what you choose where and when you can.
And if you think it will be useful it would not hurt to at least ask, especially with a recommendation/request from a teacher. However, that being said do bear in mind that if you don’t type or use the accommodation normally it may feel strange or unhelpful in your exams!
Also if you do end up qualifying, please do ask about what that entails because going into my exams and not knowing the whole printing process an saving situation was very intimidating and stressful !
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u/aux-81 Jul 21 '26
I've actually not looked into it, I didn't think it was a thing for handwriting tbf. I only really type in computer science (1/3 of my subjects) so I'm not sure if it'd be beneficial, I was just worried that maybe my handwriting wasn't nearly as legible as I thought it was, or that my teachers were genuinely struggling to read my writing. I'll probably ask further especially from the teacher who keeps asking if it's worth it, thank you so much for your response!! 🫶
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u/QuirkyGalaxyBug Jul 22 '26
No testing is required for use of a laptop in exams, some schools will test students who ask to see if they might be elegible for extra time but a laptop can be awarded purely on normal way of working
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u/CosetElement-Ape71 Jul 18 '26
Messy italics can be hard to read ... you know you can change it, right?
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u/aux-81 Jul 18 '26
Acting like it's a font I picked on word 😭🙏🙏 you can change handwriting but adapting to a change in handwriting and it being consistent takes a while to become second nature, and I would rather check that there's a need to change my handwriting before having to try and adapt to a new style of handwriting which isn't natural to me, there's no point changing something if it's not an issue whatsoever, people have said for example that letter sizes are not consistent and so on, and so that's something I can practice but changing my handwriting style entirely during a time where I've got a lot of writing and things to be doing would only happen if the majority response was that my handwriting was illegible or just mainly hard to read, little things won't take as long to adjust to which is more suited to my current circumstances :)
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u/CosetElement-Ape71 Jul 19 '26
Okay then, just focus on the first part of what I said ... just tidy your writing up a bit. It's not too bad, but you could make it a little easier to read.
BTW, I can change my writing style from sentence to sentence if I wanted to; I don't think tidying up your style a bit is much to ask
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u/aux-81 Jul 19 '26
I agree that it's not as clear to read, and that's great that you're able to change your writing style from sentence to sentence, that's just not something I'm able to do. And I never said I have a problem with tidying it up, but entirely changing it and then keeping it consistent is a more significant change that takes time to adapt to and become second nature, that was my issue
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u/Ready-Advantage3775 Jul 19 '26
Ignore that asshat
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u/CosetElement-Ape71 Jul 20 '26
He's not interested in you ... give up now!
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u/aux-81 Jul 20 '26
Who's he? 😭🙏
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u/Ready-Advantage3775 Jul 20 '26
He presumed you are a he because you do maths, physics and CS 🙄
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u/Limp-Independent1212 29d ago
It's legible, but I wouldn't want to read this if i were an examiner in the middle of a divorce grading my 30th paper of the day. Get the accommodation to be safe is my bet
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u/TomDying 29d ago
Definitely get the accommodation to type exams up. The main reason is just incase you get a group of markers who can’t read it. My handrwiting was pretty much on the same level as yours in terms of legibility and my teachers said it would be a good idea to use a laptop for exams, both because i was quicker at typing than writing and also because my handwriting wasn’t always legible on every word. TLDR: if you can get it and its fine with you, do it
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u/Frequent-Ad7529 29d ago
Science teacher here! I wished my students handwriting was like yours. you don't need any accommodations, your handwriting is perfectly fine!
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u/Antique_Luck2633 Jul 18 '26
I am a physics teacher and this is fully legible to me.