Evidence and Further Reading: Why Fairer Exams Matters

This page brings together useful reports, articles and research for anyone who wants to understand the wider debate around GCSEs, repeated resits, Functional Skills, assessment reform, school accountability and exam pressure.

Fairer Exams is focused on one practical reform: building Functional Skills-style assessment into GCSE Foundation English and maths, so young people can demonstrate essential skills before they fail, not after.

We are focused on this becuase it is a relatively quick solution that is urgently needed. The time for debate is over. We need action NOW.

Not every source listed here makes the same argument as Fairer Exams. Some are government reports, some are media articles, some are research papers, and some come from organisations campaigning for wider assessment reform.

We have included them because they help explain the wider context: why GCSE English and maths matter so much, why repeated resits are being questioned, how assessment reform is being discussed, and why many people are concerned about exam pressure and mental health.

This House of Lords report looks at education for 11 to 16-year-olds in England. It considers curriculum, assessment, GCSEs, school accountability, skills and whether the current system prepares young people well enough for the future.

It is useful because it raises concerns about the dominance of GCSEs, the pressure created by the current assessment system and the narrowing effect of accountability measures.

This is the government’s formal response to the House of Lords report.

It is useful because it shows where the government accepted, rejected or responded cautiously to proposed changes around 11–16 education, curriculum and assessment.

This House of Commons Library briefing was produced for a Westminster Hall debate on reforming educational assessment.

It gives a neutral overview of the current debate around assessment reform, GCSEs and alternatives to the current system.

This government review looks at curriculum, assessment and accountability across schools in England.

It is useful for understanding the government’s current thinking on curriculum, GCSEs, accountability measures and possible reform.

This article looks at the wider debate around the future of assessment in England.

It covers different views on GCSEs, assessment reform and the balance between exams, skills and broader forms of evidence.

Read more:

The battle for the future of assessment: ‘We must hasten slowly’

This Schools Week and FE Week supplement explores assessment reform, vocational qualifications and alternatives to the current exam system.

It provides context on how schools, colleges and education experts are discussing possible changes to assessment.

Read more:

The Future of Assessment

This TES article discusses criticism of GCSEs and references earlier proposals for a broader diploma-style approach.

It is useful background on previous attempts to rethink GCSEs and the long-running debate about whether the current system is too narrow.

This can leave young people facing an unfair choice:

They can resit GCSE English using an assessment format that may already have failed to let them demonstrate their ability.

Or they can take a different qualification that many employers, parents and members of the public do not properly understand.

Fairer Exams believes young people deserve a better option.

This TES article asks whether GCSEs are still the right assessment model for today’s education system.

It offers discussion of GCSE reform, curriculum breadth and whether current assessments meet modern educational needs.

This TES article covers views from school leaders on GCSE reform.

It shows that questions about GCSEs are also being raised within the school leadership community.

This TES article argues that current GCSEs may not reflect the skills young people need today.

It gives a critical perspective on GCSE design and the relationship between exams, skills and modern life.

Rethinking Assessment is an organisation focused on assessment reform. It brings together educators, researchers, employers and campaigners exploring alternatives to the current exam-heavy system.

Its website includes blogs, research, events and proposals for broader, more varied assessment.

Website:

Blogs and evidence:

News and events:

This article examines whether the GCSE assessment system is fit for purpose.

It provides arguments and analysis around the strengths and weaknesses of GCSE assessment.

This is Rethinking Assessment’s submission to the House of Lords inquiry into 11–16 education.

It shows how assessment reform organisations contributed to the Parliamentary discussion.

This article looks at concerns about GCSE pressure, exam volume and whether GCSEs remain fit for purpose.

It provides a public-facing summary of concerns about GCSE stress and reform.

This opinion piece criticises the dominance of exams in the school system.

It reflects wider public concern that education should measure more than exam performance alone.

This letters page discusses concerns about the number of GCSE exams and the effect on young people’s health.

It gives examples of public concern about exam burden and student wellbeing.

This article reports on Ofqual withdrawing access arrangements data after concerns about how it had been interpreted.

It is useful background for anyone looking at SEND, exam adjustments and the importance of accurate data.

This article explores the increase in exam access arrangements, including extra time, anxiety, ADHD and dyslexia.

It provides context on how many pupils now need support to access traditional exams.

This Times article reports on possible changes to GCSE English and maths resits.

It is useful background on the political debate around repeated GCSE resits.

This Times article reports concerns from education experts about the size and pressure of the GCSE curriculum.

It gives context on the debate about curriculum overload and exam volume.

This Times article reports on curriculum review discussions, including GCSE exams, EBacc and resits.

It helps show how assessment and accountability reform are being discussed in current education policy.

This Times article reports Ofqual comments on handwritten exams and digital assessment.

It is useful background on the debate around paper-based exams, typed exams and digital assessment.

YoungMinds’ Missing the Mark campaign looks at the impact of exams on young people’s mental health and calls for GCSE and A-level reform.

It includes campaign material and young people’s experiences of exam pressure.

This YoungMinds research highlights young people’s experiences of high-pressure exams, including GCSEs and A-levels.

It provides mental health evidence connected to exam pressure.

YoungMinds provides practical advice for parents supporting children through exam stress.

This is a useful support link for families dealing with exam stress, anxiety or overwhelm.

This YoungMinds page gives advice for young people dealing with exam stress, including guidance around support and access arrangements.

It is a practical support link for young people who are struggling.

This YoungMinds article shares a disabled student’s experience of exam stress and pressure.

It adds lived-experience context to discussions about exams, disability and accessibility.

YoungMinds’ podcast series explores exams and mental health.

It is a useful source for young people’s voices and personal experiences.

This UCL research reports a link between academic pressure at age 15 and later depressive symptoms and self-harm.

It provides academic research on the relationship between academic pressure and adolescent mental health.

This academic paper examines associations between academic pressure, depressive symptoms and self-harm.

It is a peer-reviewed research source on academic pressure and mental health.

Taken together, these sources show that the debate around GCSEs is not limited to one campaign or one group of parents.

Parliament has questioned whether the current 11–16 system is working. Education writers and school leaders are debating whether GCSEs are still fit for purpose. Mental health charities are raising concerns about exam pressure. Researchers are exploring the relationship between academic pressure and young people’s wellbeing.

Fairer Exams is not calling for GCSEs to be scrapped.

We are asking for one practical change: a Functional Skills-style assessment route built into GCSE Foundation English and maths.

For pupils working towards grades 1 to 4, there should be a practical route that tests real-world English and maths skills in a format that more young people can access.

This should happen before pupils fail, not after.

We are not asking to lower standards.

We are asking for fairer ways to prove them.

Too many young people are being judged by an assessment format that does not allow them to show what they can really do.

Sign the Fairer Exams petition to support our call for Functional Skills-style assessment to be built into GCSE Foundation English and maths.

You can also watch the TEDx talk to hear the story behind the campaign and why change is needed.