Charity urges pupil support as GCSE exam results announced

Brian Banks, who is junior vice president of teaching union NASUWT and a teacher at Hazelwood College in Newtownabbey, said pupils are under “enormous” pressure to do well in exams.

“I think the central importance of examination performance in education has certainly become overinflated over the last few decades,” he said.

“Parents expect it, employers expect it, universities expect it, politicians expect it, and schools expect it.”

Banks said students are so afraid of failing exams, they generally experience relief if they get top marks, rather than joy.

“There’s this sense of not letting themselves and others down,” he said.

“I know when I got my own A-level results many decades ago I had the sense of a bullet dodged rather than a mountain climbed.

“That’s tough pressure for a young person just starting out in the world.”

Banks said teachers also feel pressure.

“It’s hardly surprising as teachers and schools are measured by how well their students do in public examinations,” he said.

Banks said good exam results are the “the easiest metrics to measure” in terms of how a school is performing, and have “become one of the strongest pressures on both educators and students”.

So, while pupils are often told that their results will shape their future, is it possible that there are alternatives?

“It’s a tricky job, ensuring students understand that good exam grades are important and useful for their future, while also assuring them that they can still build a successful and thriving life without these qualifications,” said Banks.