Liisa Marie Orav

Tallinn English College G1P

Date*
Why the GCSEs should be abolished in the United Kingdom.
The General Secondary Certificate of Education (GCSE) is a certificate awarded to those who
finish secondary school and pass the final exams known as the GCSEs. The aim of the GCSEs is
to establish a national qualification for students in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and in select
Scottish private schools for both those who study beyond the age of 16, and for those who
choose to leave school. While it is important to ensure a general standard for knowledge in
students, the examination method has become inaccurate, unfair, bad for mental health and
expensive, all of which will be discussed in this essay.
The stakes set by the exams are too high, leaving unfair chances for students. While the
GCSEs do not completely determine whether or where a student can attend university, they do
greatly limit the opportunities. The exam scores can limit what Sixth form or university a student
can attend, which courses they can take, and shape what profession the student will go into after
school (Gardner 2022). In short, the exams largely shape the examinees' future aspects, which is
a lot of pressure placed on a single collection of exams. (...) *culmination of work over the
years* *disadvantaged students* 
Because of the high stakes, and nature of an exam, both the preparation for and sitting the
exam cause great stress in students and affect the exam results, reducing the overall accuracy of
the assessment. Over 75% of students in the UK experience stress over both the exam and exam
results (Davis 2021). According to teacher reports, students exhibit high levels of anxiety, angry
outbursts, panic attacks and self harm (these effects are enhanced due to Covid-19, as students
are not used to the regular classroom or exam settings) in the weeks leading up to the exams. The
number of students seeking counseling also increases during this period (Weale 2022). Panic and
stress can reduce memory, sleep quality, decrease the ability to focus and increase chances of
mental illness both in childhood and adulthood. Students who manage to remain calm before and
during the exam get on average better results than those who do not, with the improvement being
about half a letter grade (OL 2018). Since not everyone deals with stress well, for some students
the final scores do not accurately reflect their knowledge or abilities, therefore making the
current method ineffective.
 Besides the overall system being flawed and ineffective, the GCSEs are very expensive to
run. The funds used for the exams could better be utilized for improving the overall quality of
education. In 2022, about 622 350 students aged 16, took the GCSEs with an average of 7,78
exams taken by each student (Worth, Hallahan 2022), with the number depending on how each
student wants to continue after the age of 16. The price of taking each exam for most subjects is
around 40£, but can spike up to 80£ for others (Carr 2022). This means that every year about 193
million pounds is spent on GCSE exams in the UK. Meanwhile teacher protests break out
everywhere in the UK over low pay and poor working conditions (Evans 2022) and headteachers
in England warn that 90% of schools will run out of funding by 2023 due to increased energy
and salary bills (Fazakerley 2022). Schools are being forced to cut down on staff and curriculum
breadth, have larger class sizes and in some cases close down completely (LC). The money used
annually for hosting the GCSE exams could be instead used as additional funding for schools'
yearly budgets and staff and teacher pay. Fair pay for staff keeps them more motivated and also
increases the number of young people coming into the professions. With bigger budgets, schools
can allow for more modern equipment, extra curricular activities, repairs etc, all of which
improves the overall quality of the education the student receives from the school.
The GCSEs have been around for almost 40 years, initially with good intentions and a
cause. Unfortunately, with the changing world and the people within it, the system is no longer
practical: determining students' future lives based on an exam that favors some students over
others, endangering mental health and being an unnecessary expense, annually  losing millions
of pounds better put to use elsewhere is not a sufficient way to ensure education quality. (...)

NOTE: I would like a mock grade. Thank you!

The 1st body paragraph and summary are not complete, but I’ve added the main ideas anyways.
List of references.

[2] Davis, Anna. 2021. Over 75% of students have experienced stress or anxiety over exam
changes, research reveals. Evening Standard. Available at
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/75-percent-students-stress-anxiety-exam-changes-
research-b921049.html, accessed 02.12.2022.
[3] Weale, Sally. 2022. Pupils in England showing high anxiety in run-up to GCSEs and A-
levels, teachers say. The Guardian. Available at
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/may/06/pupils-showing-high-anxiety-run-up-
gcses-a-levels-teachers-say, accessed 02.12.2022.
[4] Oxford Learning. 2018. What Is Test Anxiety (And How It Affects Students). Available at
https://www.oxfordlearning.com/what-is-test-anxiety/, accessed 02.12.2022.
[5] Worth, Dan. Hallahan, Gráinne. 2022. GCSE results day 2022: 6 key insights you need to
know. Tes Magazine. Available at https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/secondary/gcse-
results-day-2022-6-key-insights-you-need-know, accessed 02.12.2022.
[6] Carr, James. 2022. Parents must pay if pupils miss exams, school warns. School Week.
Available at https://schoolsweek.co.uk/parents-must-pay-if-pupils-miss-exams-school-warns/,
accessed 02.12.2022.
[7] London Councils. The school funding crisis Headteachers speak out on the impact of
insufficient funding for schools. Available at https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/our-key-
themes/children-and-young-people/education-and-school-places/talking-heads/school-funding,
Accessed 02.12.2022.
[8] Gardener, Andy. How important are your GCSE grades?. TheUniGuide. Available at
https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/advice/gcse-choices-university/how-important-are-my-gcse-
grades, accessed 02.12.2022.