Worried parents plan to send a letter of protest to the UK about their children having to sit important exams at 6 a.m.

The parent teacher association (PTA) at Bermuda High School for Girls will write to the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) in England later this week asking it to not to make students on the Island write their GCSEs at the same time as their British counterparts.

AQA insists overseas students taking its papers later this month do so at UK time to prevent exam information being shared by text, telephone or internet.But BHSparents fear the early start time students have to be in school and supervised by 5.30 a.m. will hamper their children's performance and cause transport problems.

PTA president Brenda Dale's daughter Michelle has six exams starting at 6 a.m. The family live on Smith's Island, off St. David's, and travel by motor boat together each morning to Black Horse dock, in St. David's, before driving into Hamilton.

Mrs. Dale is now going to have to make the journey before sunrise with her daughter and will probably have to turn around in town and go back to Smith's Island for the rest of the family.

"Normally, we all go together at 7.30 a.m. I'll have to get up at 4.30 a.m. to get Michelle there. We'll have to be in the boat by ten to five.

"My husband will have to come with us as well to get the boat back for my other daughter or else I'm going to have to drive back to St. David's from town and take the boat back before turning around again."

She said Michelle, 16, was worried about the early start times.

"She doesn't know if she can function at that hour," said Mrs. Dale. "I do worry about how it could affect her performance."

PTA vice-president Jane Woodward is equally worried about her 15-year-old daughter Charlotte, who has four exams starting at 6 a.m.

"I just feel that the students are going to feel permanently jet lagged," she said. "It's the knock-on effect with all the other exams.

"On three of the days with those early starts she's doing three exams. I think she's just disadvantaged because she's got to get up so early.

"Some people are in a worse position. I live in Warwick so it's not too far away but what about the ones in Somerset who rely on public transport? It's so unfair for those girls. They've worked so hard. They are penalising so many kids."

Mrs. Woodward questioned why the conditions were necessary this year when telephones have long been in existence.

"It's so ludicrous. They've obviously got their reasons for doing it and there's obviously been cheating in the past. But it's really far from ideal."

Students at the Berkeley Institute, CedarBridge Academy and Saltus Grammar School will also be affected as will pupils all over the world in different time zones taking AQA exams.Jon Beard, head of Saltus' senior programme, said less than 20 of his students taking mathematics, ICT and accounts AS Levels would be affected by the 6 a.m. start times.

"For us, it's not a massive issue," he said.

The Ministry of Education has already written to AQA to ask it to reconsider.

AQA spokeswoman Claire Ellis told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "I can confirm that we have received the letter from the Ministry; this will now be considered and a decision made in due course. Clearly, we must communicate our response to the Ministry first."

She said students at all of AQA's overseas centres would be affected with those in the US and Bermuda needing supervision - in some cases overnight - before the exam and those in later time zones having to be supervised until one hour after the exams start in the UK.

Students are allowed to leave the exams 30 minutes after the start time, after which they would be able to send information to those in other countries.

Are you concerned about your child's performance in the exams due to early start times? Call our newsdesk on 278-0133/37 or email news@royalgazette.bm.