Okay… exam season stress is apparently universal.
This episode really showed how much pressure EVERYONE is under—not just the students.

Did this bring back stressful school memories for anyone else?

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GCSE is NOT a local or school certification -ALL year 11s across the nation, will sit the specific exam on same day at same time, finishing at same time (so kids from one school can't cheat with kids from another). The teachers do not get to see the exam questions before the exam - and they don't see the pupils answers. Exams are strictly supervised and finished papers are sent, under security, to the independent examination board for marking. The different schools, pupils and genders, are not seen on test papers by examiners (so effectively anonymous, to eliminate bias). A sample of marked tests are then double-checked by second markers to check for consistency and parity between markers to ensure fairness across the country/subject. Marking, takes a couple of months, and results are notified back to schools in August, in time for pupils to take their places/subjects at 6th Form College. It is a huge and very serious process. Schools do NOT set, mark, and verify their own exams, so teachers are NOT part of the process. This sets a proper comparative assessment/achievement across all pupils & schools, so a grade 'B', for example, in a Manchester school is considered EXACTLY the same as a 'B' in a London school or any other school in England & Wales (Scotland have a variation on this model). This system is also largely the same after college (whereas in USA, Individual high schools and their districts grade and confer U.S. high school diplomas based on a cumulative system of classroom grades, tests, and credits rather than a single national exam. Each school or district sets its own curriculum, grading policies, and graduation requirements - UK would call that 'marking your own exams', like it's a bit of a cheat/cop-out) iThe teachers do not get to see the exam questions before the exam - and they don't see the pupils answers.

He's celebrating because it means they have been doing their job correctly. No bonuses but it will look good if going for promotion

Schools are graded but teachers do not get performance bonuses.

He's looking at specific students to see if they got what they needed, not just overall statistics so I think he properly cares

What you call “teasing” hair, we call “back-combing.”

If you’re interested 😂

Hello! Chavs and Scene are completely different subcategories; though I completely understand the confusion because chav hairstyles and makeup are a little scene-y. Chav’s are considered ‘derogatory British slang term for a young, lower-class person associated with anti-social behavior, specific working-class street fashion (like tracksuits and baseball caps), and brash attitudes.’ Scene is about more emo style and attitudes.

So Michael Steer did talk about this episode some years later and said that after the exams were over, he returned to hospital to be checked over because I think he got worse again. It turns out his leg was bordering on or actually was septic and the doctors were absolutely raging at him for not following their instructions. He got admitted to hospital and made a full recovery. He no longer works at Thornhill Community Academy and hasn't for some time now.

For anyone that didn't properly watch this series and if anyone was also wondering what happened to Mr. Steer after the exams. Here's the update/Info I found.

After refusing to take a week off, Deputy Head Mr. Steer was eventually ordered to the hospital by headteacher Jonny Mitchell. Doctors discovered he had contracted *septicaemia* (blood poisoning) from an infected wound.
Medics informed him that if he had gone to sleep that night instead of seeking treatment, he likely would have lost his leg—or worse, not woken up. Despite being told to rest at home after his hospital visit, his dedication to his Year 11 students led him straight back to school with heavily bandaged hands to continue teaching them through their GCSEs.

The way exams are taken is so strict. You are sat at desks in rows exactly like you saw, you're normally told where to sit (it's usually alphabetical) you can only have certain items with you even the colour of the ink in your pen is told to you beforehand.
You are closely monitored the whole time and there could be 150-200 students sat there in the hall or gym in silence, no looking at each other, no going to the toilet, nothing.

You sit at least one exam for every subject, certain subjects there are multiple exams, science and english are good examples.

Every school, college and testing centre in the country will sit the same exam at exactly the time on the same day so there can be no cheating because someone at a different school sat the exam the week before.

Exams begin in May and last about a month, some days you could be sitting a maths exam at 9am and your geography exam at 1pm. You then may have a day or two without exams and it starts again. It all depends on the subjects you are doing and which exams are being given that day.

Exams are only part of your final grade, depending on the subject coursework that you will have spent time on during the year goes toward a percentage of your final grade, when I was at school maths coursework counted for 10% (if I remember right, it's a while ago lol) but home economics (cooking) coursework counted towards 60% of your final grade.

GCSEs are usually taken in year 11 which is the school year that you turn 16 and A Levels are usually taken the school year that you turn 18.

Depending on what you choose to do after your GCSEs not everyone will sit A Levels.
At 16 you can choose what you want to do, so you could choose to stay on at school and pick a few subjects to sit A Levels in, you could choose to go to a different school that maybe specialises in a particular subject for A Levels that you're interested in or go to college to take them.
You could also choose to go to college to learn a trade like hairdressing or plumbing etc and depending on the grades you received in your GCSEs the college may require you to sit extra classes for things like maths alongside your hairdressing course.
If you didn't do well in your exams you can choose to stay on and resit them.

All exams are sent off to be marked.

Everyone in the country receives their results on the same day in August.
One week its A Levels results day and the next its GCSE results day.
It's a huge deal and all the news channels and morning TV shows will send out cameras and reporters to random schools to film students opening their results.
A Levels are seen as extremely important because that determines if you have got in to the university you wanted.
Everyone will normally have been given a conditional offer from universities they have applied to, so they will have been told they need certain grades to get in and if they haven't received those grades they then will need to see if their second or third choice uni gave them a place with the grades they received or they may have to wait to see if their first choice will take them.
We don't have the big sports scholarships here either so it's all about the grades.

I think the main problem with maths is there's a really high threshold of learning required before it starts becoming interesting. I was never particularly good at it in school. but later when I was studying to become an engineer, i really liked it because it was being used for actual problems. It starts to feel like a fun little puzzle.

Results matter for the school’s standing and reputation, but teachers do •not• get paid by results or get bonuses 😂

As a teacher I will do handstands and spin on my head if it makes them pay attention and enjoy the class. Luckily for me, it hasn't yet come to spinning on my head because I think I would die lol

A hair dresser still needs enough maths to safely mix hair colour and perming solutions etc. chemical burns are serious issues. She probably hasn’t realised that yet.

He's celebrating for the students and the fact he played a part in getting them over the line. Trust me I know the feeling.

I was predicted a D in maths in 2000 by a teacher who had his favourites (I wasn't one them) my mum bought me multiple maths revision books and I got a C. I was also the first to understand cumulative frequency which came in handy for Crown Green Bowling scoring. He came upto me on results day and said "congratulations the ones I thought would do badly did well and the ones I thought would do well did badly" Me and a lad who was also predicted to fail got a special award at an assembly. I went to college and found a out I am dyslexic and dyspraxic then found out at 25 I've got aspergers. I was bitter for a long time that just cos I was well behaved I got overlooked but now I'm chuffed with myself for proving people wrong. Kids should be encouraged no matter what level of ability they have cos of some will accept failure without trying cos they have been told they will fail anyway and we shouldn't do that to anyone let alone kids.

Sitting exams is brutal. They're usually held in the gymnasium with 100+ desks all in neat rows. No talking, no toilet breaks & no turning around allowed for the entire duration; usually 1 or 2 hours. The teachers slowly walk up and down the aisles monitoring everyone and if you need something, you have to silently put your hand up and wait for a teacher to come i.e. your pen has stopped working. The mock exams in January are a great help in a) preparing students for the real deal in May/June and b) allowing teachers to focus-in on which students are running behind and need that extra tuition. A mock exam is usually a real exam test paper from a couple of years ago.

In Lauren Boebert's case. You can fail your GED 4 times, pay someone to do it for you and still end up in Congress. 🤦

Teachers in state schools do NOT get bonuses for their students getting good grades. There is, however, a lot of pressure on the schools to reach their targets of howevermany passes, particularly in the core subjects of Maths, English and Science.
The perception that we don't (most of us) need maths in everyday adult life is flawed. No, we don't sit down and solve quadratic equations very often- but we do want to know how much paint or wallpaper we need to cover a wall, or carpet/ hardwood planks to cover the floor. A hairdresser needs to calculate how long an appointment will take - and if they eventually want to run their own salon, do basic accounts to keep track of their money.
GCSEs are set nationally. The school has no control over them, other than deciding to enter a student for a higher paper (on which theey can score any grade) or a lower tier paper (where they can only score a C or below). Then a date and time is set for the exam, again NATIONALLY. Everyone sitting the exam has to take it at the exact same moment, to avoid any cheating in terms of finding out what is actually on the paper in advance.
Getting a C or above in Maths and English is pretty much essential to get on to any training course, and most jobs. A lot of jobs would require at leat 5 passes at GCSE, though these would not have to be C or above. Sheridan getting 8 x A* to C grades would mean she will get a place at college to study for ALevels or equivalent qualifications. If she passed those  she could get a University place to study to be a paramedic if that was still her plan - BUT she would need to  get that C in Maths at some point!

2:04 head teachers that do very well, especially if they're in academy chains, will often be moved to other failing or poorer performing schools in order to try and turn them around. It becomes a very bureaucratic procedure, and sometimes leaves the old school to go back downhill. But often they've trained up a deputy head teacher to take over the position in their footprints