English & Maths

I don’t think that many people enjoy English and maths at school, though to be honest, I didn’t really mind them. I’ve never been a very mathematical person, however I didn’t dread maths lessons. The reason being that I knew that we were being taught what was necessary in order to get the top grades.

I don’t think it’s wise to focus on your negativity towards either of these subjects at GCSE level because you have to pass them in order to progress in the future. Whilst some people may complain about schools not teaching skills that help you in real life, I feel that basic English and maths are fundamental. Whilst you may never have to apply Pythagoras theorem in real life, maths in general improves your ability to solve problems whilst English helps you gain analysis skills. These subjects are compulsory for a reason.

I believe that a good understanding of English and maths is necessary for professional jobs. A  grade C or above in English and maths is a common expectation of employers and rightfully so. There has been a decline in manual labour jobs and so employers are looking for people who have a decent academic ability. It’s naive to presume that there will be a job for you if you fail your GCSEs in the present day for this reason alone.

With all that being said, I don’t think that students should be forced to retake their maths and English GCSEs. At college we are given independence with when we study and where we can go so why shouldn’t we be able to make our own decision as to whether we redo our GCSEs. If people care enough then they will choose to have another try but forcing those who don’t care about their future to sit another exam is detrimental to other students. These people will likely disrupt those trying to learn as they don’t care about these subjects and they don’t want to learn about them.

Furthermore, I don’t believe that the BSKB tests at college are particularly useful. If students have passed their maths and English GCSE then there’s a reason for that. The reason being that they are able and hardworking. For those students who haven’t passed their maths and English then these tests may be more valuable as it gives them targets to aim towards and it lets them know where they need to improve.

That’s just my two cents.