‘So stressful’ – teachers and pupils say new GCSEs are leading to burnout
Teachers are warning that new GCSE requirements in Wales are causing “unbearable tension” and more regular assessments are leading to burnout among staff and students.
new qualitiesThe practice, which was introduced in Wales last September, awards up to 40% of the final grade to teacher-supervised non-exam assessments (NEAs).
This means that in some subjects students now spend up to 26 hours of assessment during school hours over two years.
It has led to calls for a review of NEAs after a survey of more than 400 teachers revealed widespread concerns about the amount of marking, supervision and management required.
One NEA is any assessment that is not a formal exam It includes oral assessments, field work, portfolio work and practical assessments.
English, Welsh and Religious Studies teachers reported the highest number of problems, with particular reference to the increase in classroom-based testing.
English Language and Literature, which counts as two GCSEs, now requires students to complete a total of 20 hours and 55 minutes in NEAs over two years, while in religious studies this is 12 hours.
Welsh, as a GCSE taught in English-language schools, does not have any additional NEA requirements compared to last academic year – but in Welsh-medium schools, the Welsh language qualification, which also counts as two GCSEs, requires 26 hours of NEA over two years.
Coursework formed part of many previous GCSEs, but teachers said there had been a huge increase in NEA requirements and it now took much more time.
Headteachers in Cardiff also sent a joint letter to the WJEC examination board and the Wales Qualifications regulator, warning that the reforms were putting schools “under extreme pressure” and that “urgent action is needed to protect staff welfare and pupils’ learning”.
Qualifications Wales and WJEC said they were aware of the concerns raised and were working with each other and schools to provide support.
Jasmine, who attends Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic School, says she feels “constantly reviewing” [BBC]
Nish, a Year 10 pupil at Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic School in Merthyr Tydfil, said “stress affects you”.
“School is for learning, but it feels like there is evaluation every week.”
If students miss an assessment, they often have to make it up during lunch breaks or after school.
“I think I only had a few sick days, but I still have hours to catch up after those sick days,” Nish said.
‘So much work for so little’
Another student, Jasmine, said she couldn’t find all the details she needed about the new qualifications online, adding: “I found it so stressful to be honest… it feels like we’re constantly reviewing it.”
Nate said: “A lot of teachers don’t even know what’s going to happen on our tests. It’s a little confusing.”
Carli added: “I think NEAs are good but I don’t like how low the rating is, we put so much work into so little [percentage of grade]stressful.”
10th grader Nate says his teachers often don’t know what to include in evaluations [BBC]
A survey by teaching union NASUWT found that most of the 423 respondents experienced severe stress, fatigue and feelings of overwhelm.
One teacher wrote: “NEA is seriously affecting my mental health. Although I love what I do, I have now started looking for work outside of education.”
Another said: “This workload is simply unsustainable; I know an English teacher at my school who is leaving at the end of this academic year for this reason.”
A third noted that they were hospitalized with a suspected stroke, which they attributed to work stress, adding: “NEA’s new religious work is unmanageable.”
Sophie Smith, a religious studies teacher at Blessed Carlos Acutis School, said she agreed that more regular assessments were detrimental to both her students and staff who had to start “all over again”.
“I’m completely drained and exhausted by all of this. It feels like we’ve become an NEA factory, and for me, the joy of being a teacher has really been taken away.”
He said NEAs took weeks to plan, teach, grade and supervise, that “guidance was quite vague” and “does not appear to be sustainable”.
“I also worry about student burnout. Every teacher [is] saying this is important. Imagine this constant pressure. I worry about the impact on their well-being.
“They need to come out of school with positive experiences… this rips out the heart of education.”
Pupils take regular assessments in their classrooms but one headteacher says her school is also having to rent out community spaces [BBC]
at once Urdd rugby event In Cardiff, some parents of Year 10 students from across Wales also had concerns, but others thought their children were coping well with the changes.
Gareth Hopkins told BBC Wales he would like to see a “trial period” before new GCSEs start.
He has a son in Year 10 and twin daughters in Year 9 and said the amount of work involved was challenging “without a curriculum to support it”.
“The teachers did a really good job with the knowledge they had,” he said.
“The pressure feels unfair when schools don’t have the resources.”
Nia Wyn, a PE teacher who has a son in Year 10, said: “Even as teachers we need to get our heads around this… [the pupils] Understanding how important it is to do well in Year 10 and take the pressure off of Year 11.
“I’m pretty lucky with my son, I don’t think he feels too much pressure in that regard, but as a family we’re pretty focused on sports and other aspects of life; we want a well-rounded person rather than a kid who just does academic things.”
PE teacher Nia Wyn says her son is coping well with the new GCSE exams but adds even teachers are still trying to figure it out [BBC]
Unions said the situation was very serious and if changes were not made, more teachers would leave the profession.
Claire Armitstead, director of the ASCL Cymru union, said schools were “under-equipped” and were “under huge amounts of stress and pressure”.
Neil Butler of the NASUWT said the union believed NEAs should be scrapped altogether.
Schools have become “pressure cookers”, the Prime Minister said, adding that the survey of school members “paints a picture of a system under serious pressure”.
“Teachers feel ignored, overburdened and deeply concerned about the sustainability of the new GCSE model. An urgent review is needed.”
The letter from Cardiff headteachers, seen by the BBC, calls on Qualifications Wales and WJEC to take urgent steps to reduce pressure on schools, warning that without intervention “there is a risk the system will become unmanageable”.
Sarah Hopkins, headteacher at Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic School, said “morale is low, attendance is difficult to maintain and the administrator is a huge burden.”
He added that his school has also been hit financially by NEAs because they have had to rent local community venues to hold and separate students during testing, as well as employing extra staff to teach other classes while assessments are marked and assessed.
“Teachers need to be listened to”
Headteacher Sarah Hopkins says morale is low among both staff and pupils [BBC]
WJEC said it took the concerns raised seriously and would “continue to work closely with stakeholders to help ease pressures and support service delivery”.
He added that the “overall policy direction” was set by the Welsh government, while the regulator Qualifications Wales “established the approval criteria for new qualifications”.
Qualifications Wales said the new GCSEs were designed to meet curriculum requirements and the need for “greater flexibility” in the qualifications system set during the Covid pandemic.
“As we approach the rollout of the second wave of qualifications from September, we continue to engage widely with stakeholders, including teachers, students and WJEC, to hear and understand their experiences.”
While Labor appreciates that students’ learning styles differ, he said research shows NEAs are a “more valid and authentic way” of assessing students in some areas. But the Conservatives said the new curriculum and qualifications “failed to raise standards” and that “high-stakes exams remain the fairest and most objective way to measure achievement”.
Reform UK said the concerns raised were “justified” and that workloads were “unsustainable for teachers”, while Plaid Cymru said reviewing the “suitability” of qualifications would be one of the “main priorities”.
While the Liberal Democrats said that “the lack of necessary funding for schools” was at the heart of the problem, the Green Party was asked for comment.
