Our exams system is an abject failure
LIKE the majority of 15 and 16-year-olds, my son James is in the middle of his GCSEs. He has 20 exams adding up to just over 30 hours. Not only this, he is expected to move smoothly from a chemistry exam, where he will have to recall two years of teaching about everything from allotropes of carbon to metallic bonding, to an English literature exam analysing Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet. Religious studies chases maths, physics, geography, Spanish and biology, not to mention the physical challenge of writing for one hour and 45 minutes without the assistance of a keyboard. There is no point in life where an adult would be expected to take this range and number of exams in such a short period of time. The intensity of moving from subject to subject does not let a student unwind. I can see my son becoming worn out by the volume of what he has to deal with. I thought it was telling that the first of his GCSEs were in Mental Health Awareness Week. The grading of exams contributes to a feeling of never being quite good enough. The top grade of A (7) has been superseded by A* (8) and A** (9). James is lucky that he is bright, wants to succeed, has the privilege of having his own bedroom where he can study and is part of a supportive family. This is not the case for thousands of children who don’t have the emotional space or adult encouragement needed to be able to study for GCSEs. When you are caring for younger siblings or parents, have learning difficulties or difficult living conditions, Shakespeare and Pythagoras do not register as priorities in your life. How cruel to have to sit exams when you know you won’t achieve what is expected of you. It’s not difficult to recognise the long-term damage to self-esteem this must cause. Exams have a place in education, but the intense period of GCSEs is divisive, damaging to mental wellbeing and not reflective of the educational achievement of two years of coursework. GCSEs need a radical overhaul. cAroLine deMetriAdes,
perryfields, W. sussex.