The stress and anxiety caused by GCSE examinations is evident across the country. 2-3 years hard work is assessed in 2-3 papers per subject, often amounting to more 30hrs in the exam hall for 9 or 10 subjects. Students are faced with questions that are increasingly designed to be unexpected and they can struggle to apply what they have learned. They often leave the exam feeling they were not able to adequately demonstrate their knowledge to achieve their target grades. It is soul destroying for some. Reintroduction of a coursework element would alleviate some of the stress, with students knowing that they have performed well on that at least taking some of the pressure off when it comes to the exam. It may also reduce the number or duration of exam papers necessary.