Teen forced to take GCSEs days after her dad died calls for exam change

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A teenager who lost her dad in the middle of a week of GCSE exams has called for “mandatory bereavement support programmes” in schools after feeling let down by the UK’s education system.

Lizzie Palin, 17, from Faringdon, Oxfordshire, found herself doing an English Language exam less than 24 hours after learning that her father, Antony, 49, had suffered a stroke.

Antony was rushed to hospital on Sunday, June 3, 2023, the day before Lizzie was due to sit two of her GCSEs, and died three days later.

In the days before her father’s death, Lizzie found herself crying during her exams and having to rush to the hospital the moment they finished.

The day he died she was sitting a maths exam and 48 hours later found herself doing a food and nutrition paper.

While she managed to pass her GCSEs except for mathematics and was awarded special consideration, a five per cent adjustment to all her marks, she said it was not enough and believes she would have earned higher grades in certain subjects.

After the “gruelling ordeal”, she has launched a petition on Change.org calling on the Government to implement mandatory bereavement support programmes in schools for students facing bereavement and said she believes special consideration should be increased.

“When I was doing my exams, I wasn’t thinking about anything apart from my dad and how I have to rush off to the hospital as soon as I finish,” she said.

“I feel like all of the years I spent in primary and secondary school just got flushed down the toilet over an already extremely upsetting stage in my life.

“I think there needs to be more plans in place for schools to deal with what happens when a child loses a parent.

“No child in an already traumatic situation should feel failed by the exam system, because that’s how I left school feeling.”

Lizzie, who hopes to one day work with children in sport, had been studying hard for her GCSEs in English, maths, science, child development, health and social care, food and nutrition and sport b-tech.

The weekend before her English and health and social care exams, on Saturday June 3, 2023, she was expecting to meet up with her father, Antony, but he did not respond to her messages about timings, which she said was unusual.

“I just knew something wasn’t right,” she said.

The next day, her mother Hannah, 49, grew concerned and decided to visit her ex-partner’s house, also in Faringdon, and make sure everything was ok.

When she arrived at the property, Hannah discovered Antony slumped on the floor and called an ambulance.

He was rushed to Great Western Hospital in Swindon where doctors found he had suffered a stroke and feared he would not make it through the night.

“We received a phone call in the middle of the night basically saying we’re not sure how long your dad’s got left…” explained Lizzie.

“I didn’t sleep because I was just too upset.”

Lizzie wondered whether to sit her two exams the next day after being told the examination board could use her mock results instead.

But she had been hoping to get better grades than her mocks after being offered a place at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire.

“I was given a place at this specialist college,” she said.

“I really wanted to go and was like ‘I’m not throwing it all away.’”

Braving the exams was very challenging for Lizzie though, who found herself repeatedly bursting into tears and having to leave early to rush to hospital.

“I cried through my English paper,” she said.

“Obviously none of my school friends knew what was going on at this point.

“I went into the room and the TA (Teaching Assistant) was like ‘Oh, what’s wrong?’ but I didn’t even know what to say.

“I just sat in a room typing my English paper, having to try and put so many traumatic feelings aside.

“I would literally finish my exam papers and run out of my school building to get back to the hospital.”

Lizzie also learned that she was listed as Antony’s next of kin which she said felt like an added pressure.

“They were doing everything they could to make my dad comfortable and to try keep him alive,” she said.

“But on the Tuesday (June 6), my dad’s health deteriorated and then on the Wednesday he passed.”

Despite the heartbreak of losing her father, Lizzie managed to complete and pass her exams except for mathematics, but feels she could have done better.

“With the right support system in place, I probably would have done better,” she said.

“If I was given the opportunity to sit my maths GCSE properly, I would have passed.

“Overall, I was happy with my results given the circumstances, but I would have got higher grades in certain subjects.”

Lizzie was awarded special consideration, a post exam adjustment to her marks of five per cent, and pastoral care, which is designed to ensure the physical and emotional welfare of pupils.

But after what happened, Lizzie said she feels let down by the education system and believes grieving students should receive more tailored support.

“All schools can really offer is putting students forward for special consideration and having one to one chats with pastoral support,” she said.

“It’s like there no actual structure or plan in schools for when something like this happens.

“I just thought that was unbelievable.”

Lizzie, who is now in year 12, made it to her dream college but said the ordeal has had a long-term impact and she is still struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“I’m definitely still affected by it and am in the process of getting a PTSD diagnosis,” she said.

An estimated 46,300 children, up to the age of 17, lose a parent every year in the UK, according to the charity Child Bereavement UK.

Lizzie decided to launch a petition on Change.org calling on the Government to implement mandatory bereavement support programmes in schools and increase special consideration beyond five per cent in certain cases.