Teach Secondary Issue 14.3

28 TOO MUCH, TOO SOON? When even exam boards are sounding the alarm over the scale and volume of GCSE assessments, it might be time to try a different approach, reasons Amy Sayer... 31 READY OR NOT? Stop students expending energy they don’t have on ineffectual revision techniques, and show them how to revise smarter, sooner, advises Alex Quigley 32 FROM PANIC TO PREPARATION Ryan Lockett sets out what teachers can do to stop GCSE anxiety in its tracks THE TS GUIDE TO… GCSEs We take a look at whether the cognitive burden placed on students during exams season is too much, flag up some evidence-based revision activities and highlight some strategies for curbing exam-related stress and axiety INTHIS SECTION 27 IN FIGURES: HOWWELL DID 2024’S GCSE COHORTDO? 70.4% of all GCSE awards earned by 16-year-olds were grade 4 or higher; 22.6% of those were grade 7 or higher 73.7% of entries from girls achieved a grade 4 or higher – compared to 67.1% of entries from boys 28.5% of GCSE entries from students in London achieved grade 7 or higher; the same could be said of 17.8% of the entries from students in the North East Source: Ofqual / analysis by the Education Policy Institute 3 TEACHWIRE ARTICLES FROM THE ARCHIVES WHYCAN’T STUDENTS TYPE THEIR GCSES? Today’s students have grown up with keyboards and tablets, says Guy Snape – so could it be time to let them put their pens down during exams? tiny.cc/143special1 FIND BETTER USES FOR PAST PAPERS Claire Gadsby serves up some ideas for developing a more varied revision ‘diet’ for your students that’s less reliant on endless drilling tiny.cc/143special2 PREPARATION PRIORITIES Meera Chudasama looks at how to help students make the most of the time they have left in the run-up to exam day tiny.cc/143special3 27 teachwire.net/secondary G C S E s TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL GCSEs