Coursework helps reduce our stress
GCSE exams have been dramatically transformed after the eradication of coursework due to the orders of the Department for Education.
Students taking their GCSEs have been left to deal with the consequences. Further stress and pressure is put onto students with everything now dependent on the exam.
Currently, the English Literature GCSE is 100 per cent final exam based. The exam is made up of two papers composing of essay questions on a modern novel, poetry anthology, unseen poetry, 19th century novel and a Shakespeare play.
One English teacher stated: ‘The exams should keep coursework in as many subjects as possible. Exam situations are really stressful and can place students at a disadvantage.’
Teachers understand the tense atmosphere of exam situations from real-life experiences and it leads them to empathise with the current course layout of core subjects. The education system is constantly having to adjust to decisions made by the government and this will impact the younger generation.
A few subjects have coursework still included. The art and design departments are included.
Alison James, art and photography teacher at St Edmund’s Catholic School, knows how important coursework is for her subject.
‘It is great. There is no added pressure for exams and it allows the students to have the maximum amount of time to work for the higher grades,’ she explained.
The current GCSE photography and art courses are composed of 60 per cent coursework and 40 per cent final exam. Mrs James said her preference was for ‘70 per cent coursework and 30 per cent exam’.
There is a certain need for coursework in the more creative subjects due to the skills required.
Tthe future is looking bleak with modern life threatening to endanger current and future generations. The use of fossil fuels raises serious environmental concerns by releasing up to 21.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Fossil fuels have remained in continual demand, locally and all around the world.
Everyone is responsible for this crisis and we all contribute to global warming.
Since the 19th century, non-renewable resources have been used frequently. For instance, British coal, dating back to over three hundred million years ago, will expire in approximately thirty to forty years.
It is an issue even highlighted by Pope Francis.
‘We have developed at a greater speed than we could have ever imagined,’ he explained. ‘We have treated the earth like it