PA
A mum from Kent is outraged after her 15-year-old son was told he would have to pay £100 to sit his GSCE maths exam after he took a holiday during term time.
Tyler Badder missed two maths lessons at Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury when he took unauthorised leave to go to Turkey with his family. After arriving back a week late for the start of term, he found he had not been put on the entry list for the exam.
His mum Joanne spoke to the school's head Simon Murphy and was told Tyler would only be able to sit the paper if they paid a late entry charged of £100.
In the end, Tyler did not take the examination.
His mum told her local paper that it seemed 'completely wrong' to her that he was not entered for the test as he 'only missed two maths lessons'.
"I can't get my head around it," she said, "Mr Murphy said the fee for a late entry was £100, but there shouldn't have been a need for it in the first place. We only discovered he wasn't entered when he was taken out of a revision class. He was told, 'this doesn't concern you', and taken to an RE lesson."
Ms Badder said she spoke to Kent County Council about the situation and was left with the feeling that the family were being 'penalised' for taking him out of school to go on holiday.
The headteacher confirmed that Tyler was not put in for the exam because of his absence.
"What I do not think Mrs Badder realised is that the entries for this examination have to be done and presented to the examination board early in September," Simon Murphy said, "Unfortunately, the Badder family were away at this time on an unauthorised holiday. In these circumstances, it was felt that we couldn't enter Tyler for this round of examinations."
He said that he could 'confirm' that Tyler had been entered for the January examination, and had 'a further two opportunities later in the year before he finishes his Year 11 studies'.
Mrs Badder said regardless of other opportunities, Tyler was worried the situation would ruin his chances of getting on to an animal management course at Canterbury College.
"He feels upset and annoyed that this has possibly hampered his chances of getting into college. He thinks he has been treated unfairly."
Would you have just paid the £100?
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