Should we bother with studying if GCSE exams/mocks are cancelled?

As you've heard the mock exams, as well as the GCSE exams have been cancelled for this year. And the main question on both parents and students mind is, how will grades be given in this situation.

Speaking with teachers and schools, we've found that the majority are in agreement with the next steps, and these are as follows:

• Students will be tested online, every question asked will be noted; this will indicate if the student knows the topic or not, if quiet, it means they don't know or don't understand it.

• Over time, this will make up a significant part of the grade, as it will be made up of the information they currently have, as well as teachers on-going online assessment of the student.

• Some schools are hoping to do some exams similar to mocks when they re-open, however the situation is such that this may not happen.

As you can understand, this means that home-schooling and online learning has become far more important, since it means that students will not only need to memorise the answers for the exams, but actually understand the topics in order to respond to questions asked.

It is therefore our recommendation that students should:

• Continue to study, revising topics where possible.

• Try to understand the topics as oppose to memorising answers.

• Participate in every school online/remote class and try to answer every question.