Christmas, New Year’s Eve, being stuck inside with family; they all eventually lead to one question. “So, how’s school going?”

I don’t know about you, but as a probably-more-stressed-than-I-should-be year 10 my answer to that is “yeah, good, alright, thank you”, followed by fake smiles and thoughts of “why are we talking about school, it’s Christmas!!”.

Because, to be honest, I don’t really know how school is going.

“We want you to do your best in these exams, girls, so listen” is something I hear very often from my teachers. But do they, really?

Maybe that’s a bit harsh, it’s the government who changed up the GCSEs, the government who make the rules. But we are constantly being told, “this is for your benefit, this is to help you”.

So, why exactly are we not allowed a book in an English exam? Fair enough, maybe not our own book as people do annotate these with ideas, but a copy of the piece we are writing about at least! To my knowledge, for one exam alone I have to learn the majority of animal farm, including the 15 main character’s quotes, numerous poems, and God knows what more. Probably some dull classic which I will look back on and sigh. Maybe not; I do love reading, I love books, but something about being forced to learn 102 million things, most of which I might not even use for the final exam, sort of takes the fun out of it a little bit. At the end of year 11, I will sit in a white, quiet room and write something which will affect how people will see me for the next few years of my further education, and will affect my job. For something I did for two hours when I was 16.

Like most people my age, I will try hard. I want to do well.

But I can’t help thinking, surely this is an ability test, not a memory test? This is something I heard from my dressage instructor, when I was 11 and couldn’t remember where to turn and where to start cantering, and to my embarrassment I had to have it called for me. Granted, this is 5 years on and a completely different environment and context, but the point, to me, is still very much valid.

So if we’re meant to be doing our best, why aren’t we allowed to do simple things which have been proved to help jog our memories? Chewing gum, for example, has been proven to help us remember things if we chew it whilst revising and whilst actually doing the test. No “cheating” or notes are involved, so why is this not allowed? Why can’t we listen to music quietly whilst sitting exams, if it helps us? Where has coursework gone? Why is so much dependant on a few hours? What if I’m sick during those few hours, and therefore can’t perform as well? And, why, can the government not have just kept the grades the same? Why were we given an extract of a book covered in university as a mock paper? GCSEs are confusing enough, and I think I speak for the majority of people my age, without having to adjust to a whole new grading system. I don’t understand what a 6 is, neither does my mum, and to be honest, my future employer probably will have to puzzle over it too.

If we’re meant to be doing our best, why aren’t the people responsible for what we are supposed to be doing well at helping us?

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