The problem with the position taken by SpeasktheTruth is that hay does not affect employees "1 week in 4" but tends to be at its most severe during May and June.

Oh and when do schools have their exams? May and June!

Katherine, Sweden,

I went through exams quite a while ago now (I'm 20, and preparing to enter university on the back of my excellent grades), but agree that a move of exams would be wonderful for my fellow hayfever sufferers.
It is very hard to sit an exam when there are streams of mucus running down your face, when you have a sore throat that even breathing aggravates, when you are sneezing rapidly and consistently for minutes at a time (come to think of it, that is distracting for everyone in the exam hall, surely on a par with a ringing mobile) or have eyes so watery the examiners think you're crying with the pressure of it all.
It all means you spend less time writing answers than your peers, costing points.
In college we weren't even allowed to have tissues on the desk! They had to be kept under the table, and boy was it annoying having to duck!
If you think that sounds extreme, it isn't. That is what I go through every year. I have yet to find an over-the-counter drug strong enough.
Good luck, kid

Aeryn, Lancashire, UK

While hayfever has never actually caused me to drop a grade, it has made the whole exam experience ten times worse than it should be. Sitting in a sweltering exam room, I could hardly beg the teachers to keep the windows closed during my A levels, AS levels, and GCSEs, but as soon as one was opened, despite being on prescription steroid sprays, eye drops, and anti-histamines, at some points I could barely see my exam paper. It is just like having severe flu for me: eyes watering, sneezing every ten seconds, itchy skin, even mild difficulty with breathing (though that was proably a combination of stress, panic as well as symptoms). Luckily it has decreased as I got older but honestly, what a stupid time to sit the most important exams of your life!

Anna, Bristol,

I entirely agree with "SpeasktheTruth, WestMids", and assume that he takes the same position on his dyslexia.

Stuart, Singapore,

My hayfever is worse than usual this year - I've had it since I was 5. At it's most annoying it causes tightness in my lungs with an itchy throat as well as the sneezing and itchy eyes. The non-sedating tablets simply do not work as well as the sedating ones if my symptoms are really bad. Piriton works 20 minutes after taking it - trouble is then you want to sleep for a few hours!

Claire, Falmouth, UK

I have only had hay fever once! And that was over 20 years ago, people affected should look for homeopathic medication to help them. I did and have never been affected by hayfever since. Good luck in your exams people.

Jo, Auckland, New Zealand

Hayfever definitely affected me during, I agree with this article. I was either dopey or sneezy during the summer exams, it was a nightmare.

The worst was when I ran out of tissues halfway through one of my university finals :(

On a personal note though, everyone's too hung up on exams anyway. They don't inspire people to learn, they just teach them to jump through hoops.

Mark, Woking, UK

i am currently doing my gcse's, and i also have hayfever, i am not feeling tired at all. infact i am relly happy with the work i have done as i feel i am doing very well. i struggle in science, but yet i flew through the paper! so i dont think hayfever is anything to do with it.

emily, leicester, england

John, I don't think you need to be 'bringing in the harvest' to suffer dreafully from hayfever.

Gail, London,

There is a fundamental difference between hayfever and PMT - hayfever is seasonal, PMT is cyclical throughout the year. I agree that it is difficult to suggest taking hayfever into acocunt as a debilitating factor, although this might be backed up with a doctor's note. However, the step of changing the timing of exams to take this into account would solve the problem for the majority of sufferers. Clearly this is not striaghtforward since it would affect the entire academic timetable, but perhaps this is not such a bad thing. The recent aticle http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article1857133.ece makes a good case for shaking up the academic year.

Shimon, London, UK

Hayfever definitely affected me during, I agree with this article. I was either dopey or sneezy during the summer exams, it was a nightmare.

The worst was when I ran out of tissues halfway through one of my university finals :(

On a personal note though, everyone's too hung up on exams anyway. They don't inspire people to learn, they just teach them to jump through hoops.

Mark, Woking, UK

You make an exellent point, Megan, especially about PMT. I wonder how many girls end up doing bady in exams, and how many women do badly at work because of it. I know women who spend certain days of the month totally disoriented, dizzy, depressed, and when the period starts up to their eyeballs on painkillers.

starling, Lancaster,

Meg from London - Creating a system of bias towards women with PMT!

CAN OF WORMS!

Exams are there to test people - and in order to be fair they have to test them under 'average' conditions. If people have a condition that will always effect them (or in this case PMT/25% of the time) then it is going to follow them round all there lives and so SHOULD be reflected in there academic achievement. What use is a person who can't work 1 week in 4 to an employer?

SpeasktheTruth, WestMids,

There is no longer any need for kids to help with bringing in the harvest, so no need for the long summer holiday and no need for the absurd academic year.

John Ledbury, Kings Lynn, England

I have had allergies all my life and at all times of year. They are intrusive and annoying, but this article hints at considering allergies as a disability of sorts, for which we need to make systemic adjustments. Surely then we would have to ensure that young women affected by PMT or who are actually menstruating should not be forced to sit exams at this time of their cycle? We are all a combination of biological order and disorder and that part of learning is to integrate our own physiology into our functioning lives.

Megan, London, UK

The LEA should look to move those who suffer from croninc hayfever earlier such as Aprul therefore allowing them to succeed in their examinations.

I've suffered from Hayfever and I'm sure that when I took my GCSE's my grades were affected due to my cronic hayfever.

Thanks

Jonni Posner, Edgware, Middlesex