A trip down memory lane: my summer after GCSEs

By Ian Andrews
Published 09 June 2022

Ian reflects on the summer after sitting his GCSEs and explores the importance of being supportive to students in this transitional period, this year more than ever.

Freedom, at last!

Finishing my GCSEs was exciting – no more school, no more usual routine and so much time off! I soon started thinking about what to do with them. It was the first real time I felt freedom and like a real grown up.

Getting a proper summer job (working in a bakery) was brilliant. It was completely removed from the school experience and it meant meeting different people and doing very different work to school. I vividly remember the feeling of having my own money and real independence for the first time.

That summer was also very much about the anticipation of going to sixth form college in September. My school didn’t have a sixth form, so it felt good to have a change of scenery and focus on subjects I really wanted to pursue in my A-levels. Being in a sixth form college also made it feel very different from school and the first inkling of what university might be like.

Beware of the crash

Although many students will be able to have a similar experience this summer, the circumstances are very different.

This summer series is the first time sitting real exams for year 11 and year 13 students. Understandably, this is a very intense time for them, especially for year 13 students as they missed exams in year 11 due to the first Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

They, in particular, may feel the importance and pressure in doing well in these exams and could feel a real crash after the intense exam period - even more so if they’ve got nothing particularly planned for after. Students, more than ever, will need our support through the exam period and potentially after, as they may come to us for advice or even to let off some steam after sitting their exams.

Summer is sunshine, rest and… reflection

This is the first summer in several years that we’re teachers of students who’ve just sat exams. So, what next?

This is your time to look back on the year, reflect on the exams and how students prepared, and feed this into plans for younger year groups. It might be that you want to emphasise certain topics or areas earlier in the curriculum, helping future students to be more confident when they come to their exams in year 11 or 13. Or maybe you want to rearrange lessons and assessments to have a greater impact.

The key question is: ‘What are my department's strengths and weaknesses?’

Being reflective and understanding where students struggle or forget certain methods and topics can help improve the experience for all students going forward. The iterative process of teach, reflect, improve is really important to ensure all students can progress.

Setting the right expectations

If you teach in a sixth form, remember that year 12 students in September are just year 11 students who’ve had 10 weeks off!

Let’s not forget that students may need some time to adapt to sixth form, so it’s okay if they won’t automatically be independent sixth formers after the summer holiday. To help them during this transition period, I like to model and explain expectations to my students, especially with regards to independent time and work. Students will suddenly have free periods during the day, so it’s important they start to use them right. There can often be a start of sixth form ‘wobble’ as the workload is often significantly higher than GCSE – students will need your support in understanding this shift, and change the way they work to accommodate new challenges.