The 2021 GCSE's should be cancelled. Teachers predicted grades should be given based on centre exams, class work and attitude to learning. If the predicted grades are not what we want, then we should be allowed to take a shortened exam and choose between those grades. I am one of many year 11 students who are being affected by the government's indecisiveness. We have missed so much school due to Covid-19, and there is no guarantee that all the students who were at home during lockdown had access to online school. In addition, if staying at home and revising ourselves could prepare us for exams why would we go to school? The truth is we need our teachers and we have lost so much time. Yet we are expected to take our GCSE's.    

How can the government guarantee when the mocks and exams start, that every student will be there? The attendance now is already deteriorating and, as the cases rise it will increasingly become worse. Many students will be self-isolating when the exams are being held.

I just want to also mention that the GCSE's is not something that we need. Take a look at Finland for example. The children there do not start school until the age of 7 and take one voluntary exam (the National Matriculation Exam). They have Europe's most highest achieving students. You may be wondering why that is? Well, it is because they focus on the children's mental wellbeing, letting them grow and enjoy learning. They are able to have an education without the stress of exams and getting that 'perfect grade'.

The government needs to start thinking about us. We will be the ones who contribute to the economy in the future. They need to look at the reality and make a decision now.