'She's not going to sit exams - I've decided': Furious mother of 16-year-old cancer patient rebels against exam board

24 March 2023, 08:41 | Updated: 24 March 2023, 09:31

By Henry Riley

@HenryRiley1

There is growing anger towards exam guidance after it was revealed that Lara Kyprianou-Hickman, a 16-year-old schoolgirl with cancer, was told she had to sit her GCSE exams.

Lara, 16, has Hodgkin Lymphoma Type 2B, a type of uncommon cancer that develops through vessels and glands in the body.

The student from the Ratton School in Eastbourne has just finished her first round of chemotherapy and is due to start her GCSEs on the 15th of May.

But Lara’s mother, Sophia, does not believe she should be sitting her exams. Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC the defiant mother announced she would not make her daughter sit the exams.

"She's not going to sit any exams - I've decided."

Sophia said it was not just her daughter who should get a Teacher Assessed Grade, it should be available for any child going through similar circumstances.

She told Nick Lara was not well enough to do online tutoring to prepare for the GCSEs, let alone sit the exams.

Furious mother of 16-year-old cancer patient should not have to sit exams

Sophia Kyprianou, a teacher, told LBC that her daughter wasn’t “able to revise, let alone sit the exam”, saying that her daughter should focus on her chemotherapy and be given Teacher Assessed Grades, as opposed to sitting physical examination papers “at the moment she’s too ill from the treatment to do anything, including to get out of bed”.

Lara’s favourite subject at school is Art, and she wants to study this subject at college. However, she has been told that she needs 5 GCSE’s in order to qualify for that course - something, which given her health, Lara’s mum Sophia says is “unrealistic”

During the pandemic, when exams were cancelled, students were awarded qualifications through Teacher Assessed Grades (TAG), which are based on mock exams and teacher feedback.

Sophia, 51, told LBC that this provision should also apply in the event of serious illness, but she has received pushback from the exam board who maintain that ill students can sit exams in hospital or at home.

Under current rules Lara will be forced to sit her GCSEs, or if she is too sick she will receive no qualifications but a certificate of recognition.

Lara‘s mum Sophia, also cited a similar case highlighted on LBC.

Grace Sanderson, who died last year, was also being forced to sit her GCSE exams despite suffering with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

Her mother, Emma Sanderson, highlighted the case on LBC and her daughter was eventually exempt from sitting the exams- instead being her Teacher Assessed Graces.

Emma’s petition, had over 200,000 signatures, and she wants to work with Lara to change the law.

She told LBC “no one should be penalised because of a horrific illness”.

You can sign the petition to students who miss exams due to illness a right to Centre Assessed Grades here

A spokesperson for the Department for Education told LBC: “We fully recognise that exams mark the culmination of a number of years of hard work, and to be diagnosed with any serious illness close to exams will be an incredibly challenging and upsetting experience.

“As in any year, exam boards have processes in place to assist students whose ability to sit exams is affected by illness or other unforeseen circumstances, including allowing pupils to take exams at home or in hospital, or awarding a grade to students who have taken at least one exam or formal assessment in a subject.

“We would encourage students who may find themselves in this position to talk to their school or college, which can raise this with exam boards directly and discuss possible arrangements for them to be assessed and receive a grade.”