Dyslexic pupils feel successful despite school’s lowest grades

Vrigsted Efterskole has the lowest average exam score among schools in Hedensted Municipality, but its pupils and head say the results do not tell the whole story. All pupils at the school have dyslexia, DR reports.

The school’s average was 4.8, and one in four pupils did not pass Danish or mathematics. Results published in September for ninth-grade pupils who took their final exams before the summer showed the school had the municipality’s lowest average.

Headteacher Karsten Friis said the pupils arrive with low academic confidence, often after struggling at school before their dyslexia was identified. He said comparing the school with mainstream schools misses important differences, and that some pupils might have earned lower grades in a regular school setting.

“There are many positive stories here about pupils who have done better than expected,” Friis said.

Pupil Frederikke Hieronymus said her grades had been very low before she started at the school. She said dyslexic pupils face particular difficulties in both Danish and mathematics, and that their grades should not be compared directly with those of pupils who are not dyslexic.

The school’s average is 1.4 points below the Hedensted Municipality average. Vibeke Sønderberg Asmussen, a lecturer in literacy difficulties at Copenhagen University College, said dyslexic pupils’ average grades are generally up to 1.5 points below the national average.

Annika Ross said exam periods can be hard on pupils’ confidence. “We dyslexic people feel that we have to do better than what we are actually capable of,” she said.

Friis said the priority was ensuring each pupil had the best possible conditions to pass, rather than focusing on the school’s average grade.

The article was published during Dyslexia Week, which is being marked at schools, workplaces and libraries.