English GCSE struggle

[Wafflesandcrepes]

Hi - DD, who used to excel at English, got another 5 in English Lit today - one month before the mocks. I’m at a loss. This is a child who used to love reading and has now been put off English completely. She says her hand hurts and she can’t write that much. But she doesn’t seem to have that problem in history for example.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Thank you.

@Zucchero I think the issue is the gel ink doesn't cope well with being scanned or something (?)

Thank you, I was completely unaware of that! I photocopy gel pen frequently, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't scan. Odd.

All papers are scanned. Some inks scan really badly

Hi OP. Obviously it might not be the case for your daughter, but my Yr 11 son used to be in lots of pain from writing and your story reminded me of exactly how he used to be. It turned out he's hypermobile, and just holding a pen was so much harder for him than other people. It's very common. He now uses a laptop in lessons and exams and his grades have improved drastically as a result. Just thought I'd mention it incase your daughter is the same as it often goes undetected at school.

I don't have a source but I thought it was because certain gel pens are heat erasable. With such huge implications if the heat of scanner deletes the writing, they can't take any risk no matter how remote.

Those friction deletable inks are bizarrely effective.

My daughter also struggled with English GCSE. She found these podcasts (link below) incredibly helpful - it’s two teachers and in each episode they pick a likely essay question and go through how to structure it, what points you could make, how you could reuse these points for other questions etc. It’s not at all dry - we listened to them together in the car which helped as I could then discuss it with her. The teachers on the podcast are really passionate. I even listened to some of the ones on Macbeth just for fun (she did Romeo and Juliet!).

Also have a look at the examiners reports, as they give you a good insight into what they’re looking for, e.g. they’re not expecting students to memorise lots of quotes.

My daughter went from a low 5 in the mock to a 8 (v close to a 9), mainly thanks to the podcast. Here’s the link:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/227488/subscribe

Yes! A thicker ink flow than a biro is often more comfortable to write with and they tend to be nicer to hold.
Added bonus for many of mine is it makes handwriting look less spidery too.
For right handers I'm a big fan of fountain pens. Used to use them for my lectures at uni!