How stressful was GCSEs year? and what helped you and your children cope?

[SuccessfulGCSE2027]

It is only the start of GCSE but DC is already feeling the pressure. School increased the day and put some interventions in place. DC is struggling with one core subject but we got additional tutoring.

How stressful was it for you? What help you and your DC coped? How did you remain strong and positive for your child.

I think menopausal anxiety is not helping me; but I try not to show it and remain steady, strong and positive for them, look after myself.

Appreciate some kids sailed through without little support but many other are still not matured enough for this pressure at such at young age.

Hope you don’t mind me jumping in and bumping! My son has just started year 11. We’ve got maths tutoring starting this week. He’s doing lots of past papers this month. Will be keen what others have to share.

The students I know who’ve found it least stressful are the ones who are reminded regularly that there is a life beyond GCSEs! Time management needs but keeping up with extra curriculars, hobbies, seeing friends. Far too often now students revolve around their GCSEs, and its not good for them and doesn’t set them up well for later life.

Stay calm , don’t nag , a little is better than none , use exam board websites for past papers . Try not to compare to others x

Absolutely this.

We had an absolutely horrific year in our family and life was total chaos, but my daughter kept up with all her normal activities - riding practically every day after school, meeting up with friends, going to the gym etc. She did past papers and watched YouTube videos on things she didn't understand, but honestly she just fit her revision into her normal life. She came out with really great results (to my total surprise!). I think not making a big deal of GCSEs and telling your kid that whatever happens- there's a plan B and it's not the end of the world how they do in their GCSEs definitely helps.

My daughter was actually talking about it the other day. There are some "revision influencers" on social media who totally stressed her out because they were talking about 13-hour revision sessions and she was barely doing a few hours, but at the end she got better grades than most of them 😀

Definitely keeping calm and not buying into all the anxiety and hype about how much revision/how many tutors people have is the best strategy.

Thank you all for the advice. I wasn’t very stressed about it but sometimes I feel the schools and UK system ensure you do.

The most important thing is doing past papers I think. Also, revising for the mocks because that gives you then an accurate picture of where you stand and at least you don't need to revise the whole syllabus from scratch come exam-time. If your son does past papers (preferably all of them if that's possible) and watches videos/reads up on how to do things he doesn't understand, he will be absolutely fine. The YouTubers (have a look at which are being recommended for which subject/exam board) also have predicted papers that sometimes (although not always) are very accurate predictions of the real papers. I would do them as well.

I would actually really recommend NOT watching a lot of these - it’s in their interests to make you panic so you engage with their content more and they get paid and it turns your algorithm into just revision content, which I think leads to more stress.

There is maybe a point it’s useful much earlier on when you’re starting to learn and study independently but I’d avoid in y11

The things that made the most difference for us were unglamorous: a visible weekly plan so nobody was arguing about what needed doing, past papers started far earlier than felt comfortable, and protected time that was genuinely not about school. What didn't help was buying more resources — one set of notes plus past papers beat a pile of subscriptions. I'd also say out loud, early, that there are routes after GCSEs even if results aren't what's hoped for. Taking the catastrophe off the table lowered the temperature a lot.

It is important to remember that for bright kids they aren't that difficult. Most of the time I had to sit with my son to make him revise for the few months before the exams but he also spent a lot of time playing sport and other hobbies. He did better than many of his peers who gave up sport until the exams were done.
Going over past papers and the revisions guides helped.

In Wales they now do them across year 10 and year 11. My DC has just done the year 10 ones and did well, but it was stressful in terms of timings and pressure (to a degree - I make a point of not applying any myself) and then the wait for results. Will have to do that every year up to year 13 if she stays on for A levels.