To ask if GCSEs were harder this year??

[JudesBiggestFan]

My son got his results yesterday. Lower by at least one grade and some of them two lower than his last mocks. There wasn’t a time all through the course that he wasn’t predicted 7s for English and in PE he was predicted a solid 7, maybe an 8. He ended up with 5s in all except maths where he got a six! In French, where he was predicted a 5, he got a U. It’s not that I’m angry, just completely baffled! He revised solidly, he had 100 per cent attendance and as I say, his mocks were solid. I expected 7s, 6s and maybe an 8 or two with a good wind. I don’t quite know what happened and it’s hard to ask in real life. He’s a bit despondent but ultimately has got in at sixth form so just wants to forget about it. But I just wanted to know if it’s a him issue (stress?!) whether the school consistently over predicted or if the grade boundaries were moved?

Literature or Language?

This is why I hate exams in their current form at GCSE/A-Level. Some people can waltz in completely unprepared and ace them, others can do all the prep in the world and just not be good at exams.

GCSEs in particular aren't learning the subject as much as they're learning how to pass the exam. I didn't do a single second of revision outside of school for my GCSEs. I got a D in Biology, a C in Chemistry and A/A in everything else. 3 As and a B at A-Level, again, no revision outside of college. Pointless for the amount of stress and pressure they put on kids.