Four in five school leaders say tougher GCSEs have detrimental effect on lower-ability students

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Four in five school leaders think the government’s new tough GCSEs are having a detrimental effect on struggling students, survey finds. Eight in 10 school leaders believe that pupils with lower prior attainment are detrimentally affected by the tougher courses, while 79 per cent said the GCSEs are causing higher levels of student stress. “I cannot think of anything more dispiriting than going through school thinking every day ‘I cannot do this’ – but that is the reality for many students.” Another school leader added that the harder exams had left students from disadvantaged backgrounds feeling “more stressed, anxious and depressed”, while another said it was “soul-destroying” to see hardworking pupils struggle to cope with the high volume of exams. Nansi Ellis, NEU assistant general secretary, said the new GCSE exam system is “largely about regurgitating facts with very little time for thinking or deeper learning”.