Reflections of an A Level student in the second year of COVID-19

Reflections of an A Level student in 2021

Taking your exams in the second year of a global pandemic

Dear reader, I would like you to take a moment to reflect back upon your final year at school. Whether you sat A Levels, SATs, or any other type of exam. Do you remember the deadlines? The late nights? Or perhaps the immense pressure of knowing that the grades you get will impact the rest of your life? Now add a global pandemic on top of this.

I’m sure that you can all think of a number of stresses and problems that you experienced during the lockdowns which we all went through. For the year above us things were challenging (2020). The school’s examination system was cancelled, and grades were assigned in a way that they never had been before; resulting in disaster for some. However, in many ways our year (of 2021) has had a much more challenging time.

To begin with, we had spent almost half of our first A Level year learning from home. This brought a range of problems, with some students able to cope better than others. We were constantly having to adapt to an ever-changing programme, dealing with new anxieties and problems along the way. We couldn’t even ask the teachers for guidance, as they knew as little as we did.

A time that I will never forget is my A Level mocks. It was the Christmas holidays and things were unclear as to whether our actual exams would go ahead. It was a couple days before Christmas when the announcement was made. Boris’ face sprung up on the TV and announced in a matter-of-fact tone that for another year: “Exams. Were. Not. Going. Forward.” In a moment of intense shock, anxiety and general confusion as to what would happen, I decided to eat far too many pigs in blankets than is deemed healthy! From then onwards my life consisted of practice papers, essays and stress. My school insisted that these mocks would not be the “be all and end all”, but they were a lot more important than they normally were, and possibly could have been the only proper exams we’d be given to prove our final grades. Lockdown happened again and I sat my exams in a way I had never imagined: sitting in my bedroom with a rather stern looking

“To begin with, we had spent almost half of our first A Level year learning from home. This brought a range of problems, with some students able to cope better than others. We were constantly having to adapt to an ever-changing programme.”

woman staring at me through a screen on Zoom. Fortunately, my revision paid off, but others had a much harder time, especially those with additional learning needs or the many children who did not have access to the internet or electronic devices.

After these exams we received our grades, which was as nerve-racking as results day itself. As a student in a competitive girls’ school there were lots of tears and upset. Not long after this, we moved back into school with masks, which was stressful in itself. To help determine our final grades we headed straight into a never-ending stream of exams. As someone who naturally gets anxious before an exam, things became a nightmare. I spent five months straight in a state of permanent ‘fight-or-flight’ mode. Unsurprisingly, I was not alone, according to the Evening Standard over 75% of students have experienced stress or

anxiety as a result of the exam changes.

For a normal A Level student the ‘intense revision period’ lasts about a month or so. Multiply this by five! In addition, we still had lessons to complete (no revision period at home). School, lessons, homework, revision and very important exams. To say the least, it was not a healthy state to be in. Each day students were crying, breaking down, and behaving in ways I couldn’t have predicted. At one point a student even managed to break a chair in their frustration!

Each exam felt like an A Level and I would get so stressed I wouldn’t even sleep the night before (even on Night Nurse). I would have a racing heartbeat, tightness in my chest and break out in sweats. It took me six months in the summer for me to get my period back in recovery from the stress I experienced.

Fortunately, I managed to achieve a good set of grades, but this year will certainly go down as one of the most stressful years of my life to date!

If this style of grading were to happen again, I hope that the government will let schools adapt their method of assigning grades to one that is less intense and stress-inducing. If extra exams are required to help determine grades, I suggest allowing students to have a revision period from home, so that the additional pressure of lessons and school are alleviated. I believe that we all worked very hard towards this set of exams and that the teachers were extra diligent about awarding high grades. I certainly can list a number of people who did not get their first choices, despite the grade inflation that many tabloids are reporting. Maybe this year everyone worked harder under lockdown than ever before, having seen what happened to the previous cohort of A Level and GCSE students last year? Just a thought…

Student (anonymous)

TURN TO P53 to read more about looking after your mental health and wellbeing