Patrick McCabe is instantly recognisable in the early autumn sunshine, his wheelchair surrounded by fellow pupils at Fallibroome Academy in Macclesfield, Cheshire as they move from lesson to lesson, chatting, laughing and joking around. His extraordinary GCSE success this summer has become the stuff of legend. The 16-year-old has cerebral palsy and it took four months for him to complete his exams using eye-tracking technology.
Now Patrick has started his A-levels – French, business and media studies – and fresh challenges lie ahead. In person, Patrick is impish, thoughtful, articulate, witty, intelligent and honest. Using his augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device, he tells the Guardian school has been a good experience overall.
Born in Switzerland, his family moved back to England when he was six. Since then, he has gone to local mainstream schools, where he wanted to learn like everyone else. Forthcoming reforms are built on an inclusive approach, keeping children and young people in local – rather than special – schools with all the necessary expertise and support on hand.
But Patrick’s story also illustrates the scale of change required if education and assessment in England are to be truly inclusive. His experience shows that exams are far from accessible to all, his family and school say vital expertise is not always available and – crucially – funding is never enough. The school and Patrick’s mother, Jo, battled with the exam boards to try to ensure he was given a fair chance.
In the end, it doesn’t sound very fair at all. While his peers spent the first part of the year revising, Patrick’s exams got under way on 2 February and went on every morning until 5 June. It required a herculean effort from him, which left him exhausted, frustrated and sometimes ill.
A 30-mark question that might form just one element of an exam could take up to six hours. Patrick was supported throughout by CandLE, an organisation that helps students using AAC technology to access education across the UK. That he passed all seven GCSEs and achieved the grades he needed to continue into sixth form is testament to his determination.
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