With exams coming up, it can be a stressful time for students around the UK. Students will be doing their GCSE’s and also AS exams this May/June and are currently preparing for the couples of weeks of exams. Students in year 10 and 11 will be doing their GCSE’s, year 11’s will be doing all of their exams which can be around 11/13 exams but student’s doing triple science will be having 4 extra exams. Students in sixth form will be sitting their AS exams in Maths and Government & Politics as they are still part of the AS system unlike the other subjects. As well as AS exams students in year 12 will be doing QFE (qualification for entry) exams in every subject as the system has changed so all A level exams will take place next summer. The results of these exams will enable if the students will be able to continue in the sixth form and if they will be able to continue the course in year 13. If the students unfortunately end up failing these exams, they will need to retake the entire year 12 or move to another sixth form or college and can even do a BTEC course. When asked about the upcoming exams, a student in year 11 (anonymous) responded with, “I am quite nervous as the exams are so soon and they are almost one after the another but I have been revising really hard and have been trying to focus on the grades that I will get if I work hard right now, I’d say the grades are the biggest motivation for me as I know I’m capable of doing well.” A year 12 student doing an QFE exam commented on the difference from GCSE’s, “Thankfully my exams aren’t until June so I still have some extra time to get a lot of revision done, as it’s not something you can leave last minute. With GCSE’s even though there were more subjects you didn’t really need to focus too much on all of them as you had extra things such as coursework, ISA’s and controlled assessments to boost up your grades, but it’s not like that in A level courses. Although these exams aren’t real, they feel so real because the results will affect if we are able to continue in our chosen subjects and it would feel like a complete waste if I have to retake this year just because I didn’t revise hard enough for the exams." Best of luck to all students doing any kind of exam this year, it will be worth it in the long run!

Tahiya Ahmed-Ursuline Academy Ilford