English Language GCSE and Maths GCSE are the most important exams you'll ever take.

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A pass grade in each one is necessary for almost ANY post 16 path: college, 6th form, university, apprenticeship and many, many jobs.

 

English Language is also one of THE most difficult GCSE exams you can take: nearly 40% of pupils do NOT get a pass grade – a much higher failure rate than other GCSEs.

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That's right. Nearly 4 in every 10 students will NOT pass this must have exam.

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Sounds unbelievable doesn't it?

 

In fact, most students get 1 to 2 grades LOWER in the language exam than they do on the literature exam (yep, it’s harder than Shakespeare).

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And on a retake, only 1 in 4 students pass.

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And it's even HARDER if you're dyslexic, ADHD or have any of the other learning differences that make exams hard, and English exams harder.

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And why is the exam SO hard for our students who learn differently ?

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Well..lots of reasons.

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The English Language GCSE is, essentially, an exam that tests your ability to read and write effectively. 

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And guess what dyslexia means for most students?

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YEP, you've got it. However brilliant, however hardworking, however curious, academic and smart you are, dyslexia makes READING very difficult.

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It's kind of the essence of the thing.

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So if reading is not your thing. Then the English Language exam is likely to be a stretch.

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But you've got to get it.

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And schools don't help all that much 

- they try, but they just don't have the time, the resources or the understanding and knowledge to help effectively.

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• Teachers make assumptions about the students - like they assume that they can read easily.

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But if you're dyslexic, you probably CAN'T read easily.

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• Teachers assume that students will just 'pick up' the right way of doing things: of analysing, of interpreting, of writing up their thoughts.

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But guess what? Dyslexic learners don't generally just 'pick it up'. They need clear and explicit teaching, and with that clear and explicit teaching, they can do really well.

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• Teachers assume that the 'walk throughs' and 'exam technique' lessons will land and that students will understand what the examiners actually want. 

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But dyslexics are notoriously creative thinkers. 

Which is amazing.

Except that examiners are not generally all that creative.

Which means that dyslexic students often seriously misunderstand what the examiner actually wants.

And so they might have answered brillantly, if only they had interpreted the question correctly.

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• Schools expect students to do lots of revision and practice on their own, because the length of the papers and the fact that English is ONE subject but TWO GCSEs, means that there simply isn't enough time to practise all four papers in school.

• And since the literature exam is more content heavy, many schools focus on that, at the expense of language.

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And that's ok for many students. But for our dyslexic teens, they're probably ALREADY exhausted by school. So coming home and settling down to a paper in the subject they find most difficult....

 

Well..it's just a recipe for fights, tears and perhaps a slammed door or two.

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And you want to help. 

But you're a bit lost.

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Perhaps it brings back bad memories of your own time at school.

Or you're bewildered, because school was just straightforward for you.

And you can't bear watching your wonderful, curious, intelligent, thoughtful young person disengage from school, or work harder and harder, but without the results they deserve. 

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And you're scared of not doing enough.

And you're just as scared of pushing too far.

And of what that might do to your relationship.

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So what can you do to help your dyslexic teen through this exam?

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We have some ideas. Actually we have a LOT of ideas.

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Jump over to 'free stuff' to get a free guide on how to help your teen.

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And read on to see what else we can offer

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