To think GCSE are wrong for many kids

227 replies

Mountainsuccess · 08/06/2026 07:38

I see the level of parental involvement and stress many parents go through when the kids are doing GCSES.

I think if there is so much parental involvement needed surely GCSES are not the right thing for many kids. The number of exams and pressure is completely crazy for a 15/16 year old. Do they actually remember anything after the exams? Or is the UK education system just an exam factory?

The government put so much pressure on schools and schools on teachers, parents, kids. It is just all about results. I feel there is so much micromanaging from the government. Why is this? Why the Government doesn’t trust teachers and parents? Is this ever going to change? Isn’t this supposed to be an advanced country?

Please enlighten me. I am not English but raising kids here.

OP posts:

Besidemyselfwithworry · 11/06/2026 08:48

AHalfling · 08/06/2026 07:55

I haven't got involved in my son's revision at all. I know plenty of parents who leave them to it. He also doesn't seem stressed.

Most of his friends are similar, they are still out enjoying hobbies and seeing friends. Balancing some revision with socialising and sport.

This is exactly how I plan to play it with my oldest who be my first doing them.

I’ve always said to my kids that all they can do is their best and this absolutely doesn’t involve being so stressed they can’t function or having such a level of parental input it then isn’t their own work.

We are all different tho and I think that some young people maybe find it more stressful than others. My parents were great - supportive and not really pressured and there for us. I hear and see some very pushy parents and I’m not always sure that’s the right way to be.

mrsbowes · 11/06/2026 08:57

SorryWeAreClosed · 11/06/2026 08:41

We have had the same. Daughter taught by an examiner and she has been taught a formula for each question.

When I sat GCSE, students never saw a mark scheme and didn't have to read between the lines on what each question is looking for.

"Make sure you answer the question was the most advice we had", meaning the question on the actual paper without having to know how marks were awarded too.

We didn't have to learn any acronyms - 'pramshop' and 'daforest' and make sure we had included enough hyperbole, rule of 3, made up statistics etc. We just had to write as well as possible. My kid has had a lesson on these acronyms nearly every week with about 15 mins left at the end of the lesson to do any actual writing. Her homework isn't finish off this writing but more work on an app to pick out the rhetorical question, decide whether something is a simile or not.. Not one sentence she has created herself because the app can only work with set answers. And on and on with the tedious busy work when they'd be better encouraged to read an actual book!

We have had a recent graduate to help with English literature. I've listened in on most lessons and my goodness it has had so much value in and of itself. I don't actually care whether she jumps through the right hoops for the exam. She has had a whale of a time studying shakespeare and the context around it, learning to analyse poetry and express and flesh out opinions. At the end of it I have a daughter that will continue to enjoy poetry and Shakespeare and will read challenging books rather than being put off by her school experience.

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Most of the secondary curriculum seems to be 'how to answer a 1/6/9 mark question' rather than taking much joy in learning things, in every subject.
Nailing the correct format in line with the mark scheme is much more important than the actual content.

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