Why GCSEs Should Be Made Easier
The build-up and preparation for GCSE exams can cause undue stress for many teenagers in the UK, and they deserve better.
Pic: Unsplash / Sharon McCutcheon
With teachers constantly reminding you that if you don’t do well in GCSE exams then you’ll essentially be nothing in life, the anxiety and fear of being a failure to your parents and yourself is hard to handle. Teenagers shouldn’t have to go through that.
Teenagers are under constant mental stress just from being of that age. They are already self-conscious and undergoing neurological change. When you add the stress of exams onto that plate, you get mental breakdowns, anxiety attacks, and sometimes even worse.
In 2018’s English Language GCSE Exam, only 2.6% students taking the test got a grade 9, 17.5% got grade 7, and a whopping 70.2% barely passed with a grade 4.
When 70% of the students barely pass, either the teacher is failing the students, or the test is too hard. I understand that there are teens who don’t care about GCSEs and contribute to those who barely passed, but for those who tried, they most likely won’t get successful ‘middle class’ jobs (source: my teacher).
As a student myself, I firmly believe that anxiety and stress are a core factor to why GCSEs should be either scrapped and replaced or made easier. Traumatising and exhausting teens isn’t going to improve the world in any way.