As the spring holidays commence, the GCSE start line begins to creep closer and closer. Exam pressure starts to loom over thousands of young teens as they anticipate the beginning of this highly demanding, pressurising experience. Is this healthy for the young minds, or is it a damaging destructive whirlwind?

The first public examinations were introduced in 1858 in order to ‘mark student attainment’ within their schools. Over the years, this has progressed into what we now call ‘GCSES’ (general certificate of secondary education.) Whilst GCSES are a crucial element of todays society, the unignorable connotations of them is the pressure that they put onto young minds.

According to a self-collected survey, eight out of ten students in year eleven feel that the pressure to do well in GCSES damages their mental health. On top of this, 80 percent of students nationally stated that the feeling of pressure overwhelms them during this period. A study has found that the stress caused by GCSES, makes a child three times more likely not to pass five GCSES, this leads one to beg the question of, do the constant reminders from both parents and teachers of the necessities of exceeding in these examinations, put gasoline on an already roaring fire?

The normalisation of poor mental health as a result of GCSES is highlighted in a Guardian report where a 16-year-old stated ‘I have suffered from panic attacks and a high increase in anxiety. It’s quite scary how as a student I find it normal to see my peers break down in lessons as they are scared of what’s going to happen to them in the future if they fail.’  

Another student from the Guardian stated that ‘I have seen the mentally toughest people crack and it’s painful to watch. People crying unable to do maths questions. Is this what we want as a nation, to be put under this mental stress?’  

The over fixation on doing well in these exams, questions if there is a need for change withing them. As our society is ever growing and adapting to how we work best as humans, is there a need to alter our examination system in order to accommodate to the majority of the population? Can one exam really measure a person’s intellectual capabilities? Or are we doing thousands of young children a disservice by putting them in a high intensity situation and expecting fantastic results? These are the questions that GCSES force people to ask.

Mental health is already incredibly more prominent in teens than ever before, by asking this much of them, do we run the risk of doing the younger generation a substantial disservice?