Hard times, great expectations at GCSE time

Latest figures from Childline reveal a 20 per cent increase in the number of people calling about about exam worries.

“Awaiting exam results can cause lots of stress and anxiety for young people," says Childline services manager Ziv Israeli.

Last year, the charity – founded by Esther Rantzen in 1986 – received 1,127calls from children worried about their GCSE and A-level exams, up from 937 the previous year.

"These figures show that the pressure to perform well in exams is being felt by young people across the country and this can be difficult for them to handle," says Mr Israeli.

"We hear from lots of young people each year who are really worried about their results and what the future may hold. If they want to talk Childline is always here to listen."

Crucially, the figures show that girls are five times as likely as boys to to call the helpline, meaning that either female pupils feel the heat far more than their male counterparts, or ­– as seems more likely – boys are far less likely to come forward to admit they have a problem. In other words, the 1,127 figure could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Mr Israeli says that a fear of disappointing their parents, being seen as a failure, or the general pressures linked to academic achievement were among the reasons why young people were contacting Childline.

And he says that for some youngsters, the worries can have a profound impact on their lives.

"Stress about exam results can affect young people’s ability to sleep, trigger anxiety attacks, depression, and eating disorders," he says.

"In some cases it can also lead to self-harm and suicidal feelings, or make pre-existing mental health conditions worse."

Over at St Dominic's School in Brewood, between Albrighton and Stafford, deputy head Nikki Hastings-Smith, says it is important that youngsters are prepared mentally and emotionally for the exams, as well as academically.

She says pupils are encouraged to work hard – but also “be nice” to themselves and reward themselves with treats.

“We are well aware of the pressure the new rigorous GCSE examinations place on our girls and have been preparing for them over the past two years,” says Mrs Hastings-Smith.

“This begins in the younger years when they take part in workshops designed for the girls to find their own learning style and we support them through formal assessments with a structured revision programme so that they can gain confidence and get used to the new ways of assessment at an early age."

St Dominic's, which caters for boys and girls up to the age of 11, and then girls only from 11 onwards, says that as a small school it can track pupils closely and offer support as soon as there is a dip in performance. They have a personal mentor who they see on a regular basis according to their individual need.

“It is all about an individual approach to learning,” said Mrs Hastings-Smith. “During the mentoring sessions, pupils will talk honestly about their learning and girls are encouraged to set small targets that are reviewed."

The school ran a Christmas revision programme for some pupils, and all youngsters taking GCSEs this year attended a two-day half-term programme in February. At Easter, staff have volunteered to come into the school to help.

Mrs Hastings-Smith says the school has a "be nice to yourself" approach to revision, with an emphasis on a work-life balance.

"An example of this will be on April 6, when the girls will have a revision workshop after school, but follow it up with a takeaway meal."

Pupil Katie Webb, 15, from Horsehay, Telford, says: “The support we have received this year has been really useful, especially the holiday revision sessions as we get so much done compared to what we would do at home. We can focus more.”

Classmate Prayerna Nanavati, also 15, from Stafford, adds: “Mentoring has been helpful to keep track of our work every week and target setting allows us to prioritise our workload and alleviate stress. We know we have someone to turn to.”

Alan Doust, headteacher of The Community College at Bishop's Castle, says that this year there will be an extra headache for youngsters, in the form of the new-style maths and English GCSEs.

The new exams, the brainchild of former education secretary Michael Gove, were created to give teenagers a more rigorous understanding of the core subjects. When they were first announced in 2013, Mr Gove said the new maths exam would bring Britain into line with countries such as Australia and Singapore, where more time was spent teaching the subject, while the new English literature exam would see a greater emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Mr Doust says the problem is that teachers have not had enough instruction about what is expected of the youngsters.

"I think the main pressure comes from the fact that teachers do not have sufficient guidance from exam boards about what constitutes a particular grade," he says.

"There are very few specimen papers and mark schemes available, so teachers are having to use their professional judgement to estimate grades.

"This in turn puts stress on the students, who cannot be clear about their estimated grades and what they need to do to improve.

"Our understanding is that the grade boundaries will be decided once the exams have been marked."

Mr Doust says his staff will be working hard to support youngsters in the run-up to the exams.

" All schools will be running additional revision sessions, both during the school day and after," he says, but adds that again the changes to the new exams place constraints on the teachers.

"A key part of revision is completing past exam papers, but because of the lack of information available, this is only partially possible," he says.

Highfields School in Penn, Wolverhampton, says parental support is essential if children are to achieve their best in the exams. The school cites a study which says that parental support is eight times more important than social class when it comes to getting good grades.

“We understand that exams can be stressful for students and do everything we can to support them so they all fulfil their potential," says headteacher Graham Tate.

"Every weekend since January we have been running revision sessions in school to give students the chance to work more closely with teachers on areas they wish to improve on. "We also run an extended curriculum until 4.15pm every night as well as residential revision trips which allow students to work together with staff and friends outside of the confinements of a classroom."

The school also runs a "Plan to Succeed Day" where pupils get the chance to work with their peers to develop effective revision methods.

"During this day they work in groups to construct their own revision timetables and materials, making use of a range of techniques including mind maps, flash cards, route systems and quizzes," says Mr Tate.

Throughout March, the school also ran a series of informal groups for parents and carers to help them better support their children.

"These have proven to be very popular over the last four years and are run at a variety of times and over a choice of days and evenings," he says.

"Everything we do from now on is about giving them the advice, ideas and support to make sure they get the most out of their revision time and adopt revision methods that best suit them so they achieve their potential in their exams and put themselves on the road to success in the future.”

Research highlights the importance of keeping calm in the run-up to the exam period, showing that teenagers who fret about results score up to one and a half grades lower than their peers.

The study, carried out by Edge Hill University, the University of South Australia, and the AQA exam board, was based on a survey of 325 pupils, conducted three to four months before they took their GCSEs in 2012.

The teenagers, all the north west of England, were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with 44 statements covering three areas - exam worries, how confident they felt about dealing with their concerns and strategies they used to cope with anxiety.

Dave Putwain, from Edge Hill University, said: "There is no doubt that test anxiety, or to be more precise a high degree of worry over one's performance or the consequences of one's performance, has a detrimental effect on GCSE performance.

"Our study controlled for prior attainment and also how good students were at dealing with exam pressure and found that increased worry still predicted lower achievement."

Mr Israeli says it is important to remember that exam results are not the be-all-and-end-all, however acute the pressures may seem at the moment.

“It’s important to remember there is life beyond exam results," he says.

"Disappointing grades are not the end of the world, even if it doesn’t feel that way at the time.”