Hello you lot
Not a Y9 (I am about to start Y13) but I sure do feel like one. I know my Y9 self would have needed this advice (whether I thought I needed it or not)
My GCSE experience is a pretty miserable one, I won’t scaremonger but I feel that saying this might spare someone else the grief.
Please please please please ignore anything your school tells you that makes you think these GCSEs are a matter of life and death. They are not. In fact, when you leave school and go onto college or sixth form they look like Y6 SATS. I was a top student for so many years at my school but I thought about them way to much and fell at the final hurdle. At the end of the day when you finish Y11 it is like having a fresh start, your GCSEs get you in to your college or Sixth form through their entry requirements but that’s about as significant as they get.
My school was graded “Outstanding” (*choke*) and saw that as an excuse to push their students beyond what they could handle. I only ever tried my best at school yet when I missed my target grades I was always apparently at fault. I know not every school is the same but please please understand that you should never be made to feel inadequate.
I have nine GCSEs.
History - 8
Eng Lit -8
Eng Lang - 7 (did in Y10)
French - 6
Bio - 6
Chem - 6
Phy - 6
Maths -6
Art - 6
Look at those grades and keep in mind what I am about to tell you now
I take 3 A levels and my predictions are
History -A*
Art -A*
Classics -A
In a few months time I am applying to Cambridge. Whether I get in or not is a different question, but in Y9 through to Y11 I would have scoffed at the idea. I was never “good enough” my school never gave me the chance to prove myself and they excluded me from any extra opportunities.
I wish that my school could see me now. Because they were wrong. My GCSEs are good in general standards but they aren’t perfect. I see people in TSR asking how to get all 9s, which is good and I hope you guys get those grades you want. But understand it isn’t everything.
Life will not be any easier to you if you get straight 9s. People I know who did are struggling now they have left school because they don’t have the school to tell them how amazing they are. Please ensure you have a life outside of school. Volunteer, enter competitions, do extra reading and write a diary on your subject. Go for walks where possible or join a sports club. Because GCSEs stay behind in the school you leave, the real world doesn’t care what you get. All your school really cares about it how good THEY look. Please please please be selfish, think only of yourselves, don’t let anyone try and force you into being someone your not for something that will not benefit you whatsoever.
I left school and decided to turn my life around. School had broken me and if I hadn’t the strength to see that they did I probably wouldn’t be going to university. Know that however important these are made out to be, all they do is allow you to enter A Levels. It is those A Levels that matter, so long as you pass maths and English as part of 5 GCSEs.
Don’t take this as my word to not care about them. Please do! Having good grades makes your life a little bit easier. But don’t put your entire life on these exams that don’t mean much in life. Your character and achievement beyond a standard textbook is valued more, absolutely anyone can poop out facts they took from a school book and get praised for it, is it a good life skill? Not necessarily.
My little brother is your age and I hope he and you all do as best as you can. But please please please don’t panic 💖