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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think we shouldn't have to buy the set book for GCSE English Lit?

317 replies

chomalungma · 10/09/2019 21:17

We have been asked to buy the book that DS is currently studying for GCSE Eng Lit.

Yes - I can afford it. But that's not the point. There are many families who are on tight budgets. Apparently other subjects require the parents to buy equipment as well.

English is a compulsory GCSE. The school should have sets available to read.

I know that schools are on very tight budgets. I am not blaming the school at all. It's not an academy.

I blame the Conservative party. I hope people remember these cuts and the effect they have had on their children for the last 10 years when it comes to the election.

OP posts:
dollydaydream114 · 10/09/2019 21:33

At GCSE level I would expect them to need their own copy to annotate. The younger ones can manage with school copies but you really do need to annotate at GCSE level and above.

Worth remembering that you can buy pretty much any GCSE set book second-hand for a quid or two online.

I certainly think kids on free school meals etc should get given a copy.

C0untDucku1a · 10/09/2019 21:34

I honestly think we as a country need to stop thinking of education as free and an entitlement that requires no effort or cost from parents.

Too many pupils do not even bring a pen to school. A pen! What an entitled attitude we have created in making it totally free.

There are books to buy for gcses. Revision guides. Equipment. Texts. Budgets have been slashed. But surely when your schooling is free at point of use, you should manage to budget for equipment.

Having children is expensive. Childcare is expensive. School uniform is expensive. Resources are an expense. Feeding them is an expense. You know this when you have a child. They are not free. Not even cheap.

Do we honestly now live in a society that resents buying books?

stucknoue · 10/09/2019 21:35

Ps the calculator for a level (and degree level engineering) costs £30

mamapants · 10/09/2019 21:36

I was going to say yabu because they can probably get it second hand for a couple of quid so not a major problem. But everyone replying about annotations has made me want to point out that when I was in school set books were reused, we just annotated in pencil so you could just erase any notes you didn't want.

ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords · 10/09/2019 21:38

I’m pretty sure I had to buy copies of books for my O levels ( not even GCSEs) back in 1985. It’s not new

I didn't - we used school copies which we were allowed to write in lightly in pencil and then rub out.
In O levels though we didn't take the books into the exam, whereas now they do open book exams.

Mightymaniac1 · 10/09/2019 21:39

I’m sorry but have you stopped to think how much it would cost for schools to provide copies of text for every single student? Bearing in mind how many lose them or deface them? Most schools have copies of Key stage 3 texts but I’m surprised you have any issue with purchasing a text your child keeps, that they are advised to write all over and are extremely useful for their revision. Also- families who do struggle are helped out with costs such as that as the school receives a small amount from the government towards pupil premium student status. Honestly schools do not have the budget for thousands of books a year sadly.

EL8888 · 10/09/2019 21:39

I did my GCSE’s in the mid 90’s and never paid for a book. It’s years of under funding now and yep l also blame the conservatives

MumW · 10/09/2019 21:40

This calculator is fine for A'Level Maths & Further Maths

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ZZ93346/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

berlinbabylon · 10/09/2019 21:40

Hey OP....pop on over here to Ireland and you will have to pay for ALL of the books right through from primary school and a payment for art funds and photocopying fees too!! (Jesus Christ if I see one more parent in the UK moaning about the fact they have to put their hand in their pocket for their child’s education)

As far as I know in Germany too. But what do you do if you genuinely can't afford it? Poverty exists in Ireland and Germany too.

WhatsMyPassword · 10/09/2019 21:41

I think you probably misunderstand. There are always classroom copies because fresh copies are distributed for the GCSEs in June, so the school will always have new copies to hand.

As a parent we were advised to buy out children their own copy so they could annotate them etc.

It isn't compulsory to purchase them.

OneHamm3r · 10/09/2019 21:43

Of course parents should pay. In France, USA and other countries you pay for everything and get sent a list. I think we should be too.

bookmum08 · 10/09/2019 21:43

This has always been a piece of school equipment that parents have to pay out for like PE kit and a scientific calculator . Paperbacks can be bought for pennies online.

Original poster
chomalungma · 10/09/2019 21:45

Do we honestly now live in a society that resents buying books

Interesting comment.

Of course I don't mind buying books. Far from it. He is reading a really interesting book that I totally adored when I read it at school. I hope he enjoys it.

However, when I was doing O-Levels, we had a class set of books. Just like we had a class set of Shakespeare plays. And poetry. There were some annotations - and it was amusing to see what had been passed down the years.

But at the end of the year, the books went back.

It seems wasteful for 100 children in a year to all get a copy of a book just so they can annotate it, and then it either stays on a shelf somewhere never to be looked at again..or probably sold on EBay or Facebook, full of annotations for next year's lot.

OP posts:
ViaSacra · 10/09/2019 21:45

Next you’ll be complaining about having to pay for the clothes to send your child to school in.

Children aren’t free. There are costs associated with them. You knew that when you chose to have them.

Why should the state pay for absolutely everything for your child? I’m sure the FSM kids will be taken care of - so why does your child need a free book?

MumW · 10/09/2019 21:46

For books, it's worth shopping around. As well as Amazon, try
www.wordery.com - no p&p
booksplea.se - no p&p
Flubit.com
The Works
Book People
Sometimes not often the likes of WHSmith and Waterstones can beat the above and you can order them into store.

BikeRunSki · 10/09/2019 21:46

I still have my own, scribbled and drawn in copies of 1984 and Macbeth from my O levels in 1987. I had to buy all my A level text books too.

Original poster
chomalungma · 10/09/2019 21:46

I think you probably misunderstand. There are always classroom copies because fresh copies are distributed for the GCSEs in June, so the school will always have new copies to hand

Well, DS is sometimes not the most reliable source of information.

OP posts:
LolaSmiles · 10/09/2019 21:48

It helps for students to be able to annotate their own copies. Usually FSM students will get them provided too.

We have copies in school but many students prefer their own so they can take notes straight into it. The school copies can't be written in for obvious reasons (we aren't doing 250 copies of every set text every year to keep).

Original poster
chomalungma · 10/09/2019 21:48

Next you’ll be complaining about having to pay for the clothes to send your child to school in

School uniform is another topic I could really go on about.

o why does your child need a free book

You misunderstand - I think the book should be with the school, not to be kept forever by DS. When he has finished with it, it stays with the school.

A class set.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 10/09/2019 21:48

We were told we could buy it if we wanted to annotate or borrow one from school but don't annotate in it, though you could use post-it notes etc. I remember I was the only one in the class who opted to borrow and my friends were really concerned and all clubbed together to buy me one Blush I wasn't unable to afford it, I just didn't want the book.

The book won't stay on a shelf somewhere, you get to keep it - perhaps they would like to reread it some time?

LolaSmiles · 10/09/2019 21:49

There are always classroom copies because fresh copies are distributed for the GCSEs in June, so the school will always have new copies to hand.
Literature exams are closed book and have been for a while so no copies for the exams are required.

There'll often be some copies in school though.

Year to year I would say some years most buy a copy others most use one go my school copies.

Adreamaday · 10/09/2019 21:51

I did not have to buy them in the 90s but had to buy them for my DD who did her GCSEs last year. I also had to provide her with a lot of art supplies to use in her art class. Students have to have their own paint pallets, brushes, wax crayons etc. The school used to provide them for use in the classroom when I went to the same school.

Shalom23 · 10/09/2019 21:52

You have to buy the book as the school copies are kept clean for the exam, as is the law. You cannot take a book in with notes written in it. Studying a novel is greatly enhanced by writing on it, notes, ideas etc.

CassianAndor · 10/09/2019 21:52

What’s all this annotating? I didn’t buy my school books in the 80s (but it was a private school) so our literature books belonged to the school and there was certainly no writing allowed in them.

redappleandaquamarinebow1987 · 10/09/2019 21:52

We were always given any books that are needed for class by the school. It was probably down to smaller class size being an international school. We were not allowed to write in them though. At the end of the year we took the books back with a sheet for the teacher to sign that the book is in an acceptable condition in comparison to how it was given