To think some GCSE exam timetables should be more spread out??

We’ve got biology 8th, maths 10th, chemistry 12th and physics 15th (a Monday). Is your DC not doing those, OP?

I did my GCSES 20 years ago. I only had 2 days when there were 2 exams. However there were only 2 maths papers. Yes the maths papers were slightly longer but i think that this was better. I did have enough time to read through my answers at the end. There was only 1 paper for english lit.

DS has exams spread out well over the whole period, only 2 days with 2 exams and a handful of free days spread throughout. I thought this was pretty lucky, but his opinion is the opposite - he would much rather a shorter more intense period and get them over and done with!

He is also fairly fortunate to have some subjects with submitted work already - Music is 60% done, Engineering NEA submitted, French oral done. So he has fewer written papers than his sister did.

I did first year of GCSEs and we had loads of coursework. I much preferred that. Especially for English language, which surely needs drafting and rewriting to craft a piece. That is the exam DS is struggling with most - hard to revise for, and he just isn't used to sustained writing, or being creative in the spot. I think timed exams are a poor test of those skills.

DS hasn't got a long gap between exams. There is maths on 10th June then chemistry 12th June and physics on 15the June. Surely your DS is doing these op? If so he won't have a long gap at the end?

Spreading out the exam season over an even longer period would also be extremely disruptive for the school
All the big venues, assembly halls, gyms and sports halls are out of action for the whole period on many sites. It would also probably be more difficult/ expensive to get in invigilators for partial days or weeks

My DS has one a day over the whole exam period. I’m surprised there are no data when he has two. OP I’m surprised your DC has gaps like that towards h end as we have some core ones almost daily over that last 10 days?

Agreed@123teenagerfood

I was the last year of O levels in 1987, and we had a reasonable chunk of coursework towards each exam apart from Maths and Languages. Exams were still hideous, but it was slightly better knowing that they only counted for 60% or something. What happened that? Was it Michael Gove? We do have a lot more clashes though, as there were about 30 exam boards in those days, and they timetabled their exams independently. There wasn’t “Maths day” , a “French day” etc as now. It was common to do 3 exams in a day with 20 mins supervised in between.

Or open book exams. I had open book exams for MSc and professional exams, so why not GCSE? . It’s about understanding and interpreting info, not a memory test. In 35 years of work, I’ve never been in a situation where I couldn’t look up a vital fact to double check. a @

A few years ago DC did 10 GCSEs (standard for their school). They had, I think, about 27 exams ‘in one go’ ie none taken in Year 10. It was utterly brutal (and I remember some of the shorter History papers where the amount they had to learn seemed completely disproportionate to the short length of the exam).

It’s either relentless, or it’s really strung out. It’s horrendous either way. I have a lot of respect for how DS coped with GCSEs last year.

Good luck everyone, parents and exam-takers.

Im an invigilator, it’s exhausting and intense for us never mind the kids 😂 And the clashes - don’t get me started on those!
No seriously, the more years I do this the more I’m convinced the system is out of date and doesn’t suit our kids anymore, I often wonder why we are doing this. What are we proving?

Different now, most exams have two papers (on different days), some have three.

A bit different, as in Scotland but in my own experience, at Advanced Higher I had an exam Thursday afternoon, Friday morning, Friday afternoon and then a month until my final exam.

It irked me as the three that were together were a fairly common combination! It just meant that I had to be super prepared for them and I think in hindsight it was a good experience of managing a huge deadline. Though I was absolutely wiped by the Friday afternoon! Also, the one a month later was my favourite subject and I actually just had a great time preparing for it!

My mum said in her day (fewer options overall) they alternated humanities and sciences on different days so that you might have had consecutive exams at “o level” but less likely at higher levels and would have solved my problem!

He was actually fairly laid back about it all, but it was a lot, and with being in school still until half term he found it hard keeping on top of preparing for the next one when they were in quick succession. He ‘only’ did 9 as well, although his choices meant they were all completely exam dependent. He definitely had far more than I remember doing. He sacrificed English literature and history to some degree as they had the most content and were also his lowest priorities.

i hope it goes well for him, and at least with so many early on the pressure will be lowered a little after half term if he’s completed a few subjects

Yes it's an absolute slog but I think better to do it intensively overall. The May half-term is a killer for many as they ease off and find it very hard to regain momentum as they are, understandably, exhausted. My bigger gripe is the disparity in the number of papers/exams different children sit. My DC are forced into 10/11 subjects which equates to 25++ exams. Those who sit 8 or 9, or sit one in Y10, have a much lower workload. But that's another topic...already much discussed!

Completely agree OP we had the same and I think our DC could have done much better if they were better spread out esp DD2 who has extra time and finds an exam setting very difficult. Agree that timetabling must be tricky but it feels like they could do a better job of it!!
There are so many things wrong with GCSEs imo - too many subjects covering dull regurgitated information - it had changed very little in the 25yrs since I took my own.

Wishing your DC (and you) lots of luck!

Yes it is a test of endurance. Eldest DD had two days with three exams each day as she had clashes due to her options but the exam length wasn’t long enough to have one the next day - can’t remember the exact criteria. She was knackered. She’s doing A levels from next week and it seems less frantic.

I remember looking at DS’s timetable last year, and thinking how brutal the first couple of weeks were, and how much easier it would be to study towards the end, when he had several days between each exam. In reality, after the first couple of weeks, the momentum really dropped, and he studied less and less. The complacency that came with knowing he only had 2 exams in the final week meant that he barely worked at all !

Mine has one got today and then 7 next week: two on Monday, two on Tuesday, two on Thursday, and one on Friday. It’s a lot next week!!

It's been like that forever, they just have to get on with it and organise their revision properly. It won't harm them. It's silly to fuss about it.

When I did my A levels a million years ago I did an unusual combination of subjects and on 2 of the days I had 2 3 hour exams. It was fine.

The whole exam culture needs to change in my eyes. It’s not reflective of intelligence, effort or ability. It’s a mental health nightmare.

Totally agree with you OP that they need to make it less intense.