Exam season is about to rear its ugly head, traumatising children, and adults alike. For older students, their performance over only a few weeks can determine the rest of their life, which is one of the most terrifying things I, personally, have ever heard. Then again, my position as an A level student is most likely the reason for that. It does, however, allow me to give an insight into what you/your child will experience in the future, or what you are experiencing now, whilst being a little dramatic for comic effect. Of course, there will be a small amount of serious moments to balance my terrible sense of humour, so don’t worry. You’ll get your statistics, too.
In today’s world of school performance league tables, helicopter parenting and the increasingly competitive job market, exam results are arguably more now important than they were to the previous generation. According to a 2012 report by the BBC, one in ten university graduates are unemployed six months after university, and other statistics suggest that one in two are either unemployed, underemployed, or work in a field unrelated to their degree. No teenager I know wants to become someone whose expensive degree isn’t put to use. So, if you want to get into an outstanding university, and thereby have a chance to work in a field you actually enjoy (because we’ve had ‘do what you love’ drilled into us. Unless it’s an arts subject. Then, maybe we should think of something a little more sensible), you have to achieve stellar results.
Some may argue that although the importance of exams is rising, children aren’t severely affected by the pressure of their entire future weighing on them. This is not the case. Young Minds, a leading mental health organisation, found that one in two eleven to eighteen year olds will experience at least one panic attack in their school years. This wasn’t always the case, and I doubt the cause was the removal of turkey twizzlers. A second argument people put forward in defence of this intense environment is that anxiety is a motivator. Children who are concerned about their performance will study harder, and therefore perform better in the exam. This, surprisingly enough, is also wrong. The British Educational Research Association found a strong positive correlation between worry about exam results, and low GCSE scores. Michael Gove, the ex-education minister, who began to phase out coursework modules for national exams (boo, hiss), only made matters worse. For those who don’t know, coursework is defined as written or practical independent and in class work done by a student, which counts towards a final grade. When part of national exams, it means that the future of a student doesn’t sit on their performance in a single paper, but is instead combined with their ability to research and work independently. Removing this has only created a significantly larger amount of stress, and resulted in a larger percentage of parents calling Young Minds, concerned about their child’s exam stress, than ever before.
The incredible pressure of exams is hurting students; my peers, and my friends. Several are convinced they’re going to fail their As levels, others stating that if they get lower than a B, they’re going to repeat their entire year. This is what our educational environment has done to us, measuring us all by a single, strict, standard, which not only is an unfair assessment of the country’s intelligence, but also creates a ridiculously tense environment. These are, however, at the end of the day, only exams. They are not the equivalent of the world’s end. As the younger generation, they may seem like they are all that matter, but it’s important to remember that an F is synonymous to living to Fight another day.
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