As the weeks close in on the upcoming GCSE exams I wanted to talk about the increased pressure felt by students. I am lucky enough to be an intelligent boy, and for many years have managed to do well at school without too much effort needed. Then I started Year 10 and everything changed. Suddenly the work is much harder, the increased quantity of homework has hit me like a ton of bricks and I am for the first time starting to feel ‘PRESSURE’. With this in mind it made me start to think if I feel like this as a year 10, how must those in year 11 feel.

Many students in year 11 felt pressured, panicked and not really sure what to expect over the next few weeks. Friends who would usually of looked forward to the recent Easter Holidays said that they may as well of been at school because of the amount of revision sessions they attended and homework they undertook. Furthermore, statistics show that the pressure doesn’t end when you walk out the last exam as then the stress starts on whether you have the grades to take the next step. Childline reported that in 2016/17 over 3000 counselling sessions were delivered involving exam stress, with at least 1 in 5 of these being prior to the exams starting and an inquiry from the University of Manchester found that a high number of child suicides between January 2014 and April 2015 were accredited to high exam stress with the highest being in the late teens.

To see how teachers felt, I interviewed Miss E Thorpe of Debden Park High School for her opinions on the matter:

“I definitely think pressure has increased since the new GCSE specification and I do think different students react differently to pressure, it’s hard for lower ability students but it’s a challenge to push forward for others.”

“It’s important that it is conveyed that there needs to be equal work in years 10 and 11 as you cover more in year 10 and people treat it as an easy year, some don’t revise until January year 11. The pressure drops when they revise early.”

Miss Thorpe also believed exams were to an extent to blame for student’s mental health but that “since we have been more open about it more people have come forward to talk about it compared to before”.

After undertaking some research and talking to students and Miss Thorpe, I believe that as important as your exams are, they are not the end. Whether you achieve the grades you need or don’t quite make it, other options are always opening up. In the end, all of us can only try our best and that has to be good enough. Although an important part of our lives, our education is only one part of who we are. So year 11, hit those books, do your best and whatever the outcome be proud of your achievements.    

 Daniel Gatty Debden Park High School