Many people have heard about the new GCSE format- but how many realise how much it affects our pupils? The current year 11 will be the first year ever to take the new Maths and English papers, leaving them with no past papers and very few revision tools. The current year 10 will be taking all of the new GCSEs. Is this a fair system? Can our results really be compared to others when we are taking different tests?
To summarise the new GCSEs very simply, the difficulty has increased by a lot and there is a new grading system. The lettered system many students know so well has been replaced with grades 9-1. With 9 equating to more than an A*, these will be some of the most competitive results we have known. On top of this, most coursework has been replaced by exams, causing students to be under so much more stress and pressure. Some students believe the new system is ‘unfair, especially if [their] grades are compared to others.’ We need to be considering if this is the right decision. Are these students being treated as ‘guinea pigs’ for a new education system?
One local students says that they ‘feel that the government wasn’t taking into account the stress a new system would put on the students. Not only are the teachers are uninformed but we feel as though our interests aren’t being considered.’ Many of these students lack the essential revision tools others have access to and, as a result, the already extreme stress is only growing more and more. Some studies have proven that more and more young people are needing counselling for anxiety, depression and other stress-related issues.
Is a generation of ‘perfect’ GCSE results worth a generation of immense stress? If these pupils feel they are being affected a lot by these changes, they should have their say. Should the GCSEs change? Or is it unfair on the students?
