Teach Secondary -Issue 15.1

THE TS GUIDE TO… GCSEs Whether it’s helping students manage their stress responses while ensuring they’re supported at home, or seeing to it that neurodivergent students aren’t placed at a disadvantage in the exam hall, the preparations ahead of exams season can be a complex and challenging affair... 28 KEEP THE STRESS AT BAY Katharine Radice shares with us her advice on what schools can do to help their Y11 students navigate the crucial final year of their schooling 31 ANSWER ME THIS Sam Holyman outlines her favoured approach for helping students get better at tackling exam questions 32 DOING THE RIGHT THING Asmaa Ahmed explains why reasonable adjustments for GCSE exams depend on more than compliance alone... INTHIS SECTION 27 IN FIGURES: WHATWERE THE HEADLINE NUMBERS FOR 2025? 67.4% The proportion of grades earned by all GCSE entrants in 2025 that were level 4 or above (down from 67.6% in 2024) 71.5% The 2025 pass rate of GCSE entrants in Greater London – the highest-scoring county in the country; the lowest pass rate was recorded in the Isle of Wight (57.9%) 6.2 The percentage point gap between the 2025 GCSE pass rate of boys (64.3%) compared to girls (70.5%) – the lowest recorded since 2000 Source: Ofqual 3 TEACHWIRE ARTICLES FROM THE ARCHIVES READTHE QUESTION! It’s the one piece of exam advice that every teacher seems to agree on – but Adam Boxer reckons we’ve got it back to front… tinyurl.com/151special1 “YOUMAYNOWCOMMENCE TYPING...” 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? tinyurl.com/151special2 BETTER USES FOR PAST PAPERS Claire Gadsby serves up some ideas for developing a revision diet that’s less reliant on drilling and completing exams from yesteryear… tinyurl.com/151special3 27 teachwire.net/secondary G C S E s TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL GCSEs