Home Page

Sackville School

SchoolNet

Sociology

Sackville Sociology Research Group

The Sackville Research Group is committed to carrying out research into the problems faced by young people today. The group is made up of students studying 'A' level Sociology at Sackville School, East Grinstead.

Introduction

This research project was carried out by John Simkin and the 'A' level Sociology Group at Sackville School. It attempts to provide an insight into student underachievement at GCSE.

It should be stressed at the beginning that by focusing on underachievement we are not attempting to criticise either the students or the school. It should be noted that the GCSE results at Sackville School are well above the national average.

The research is an attempt to investigate student perception of achievement and to discover their understanding of why some students underachieved. There is also a concluding section where the students have made some recommendations that they believe could reduce underachievement at GCSE.

All names and subjects have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants.

It is hoped that this research will help all those connected with Sackville School with the important and continual process of evaluation of how GCSE achievement can be improved.

Guy Nelson,
Head of Humanities,
November 1997

The Sackville Sociology Report Group

This report is an example of collaborative research. However, certain students took responsibility for writing certain sections of the report.

Methodology

It was decided to use a variety of different methods to discover why students underachieve at GCSE. Questionnaires were given to 125 of the students who had taken their GCSEs at Sackville during the summer of 1996. Attempts were made to ensure that the people interviewed represented the gender balance of the year group (59 boys and 66 girls). Overall, the 125 students interviewed represented 43.7% of the total year group.

In an effort to measure their views on GCSE underachievement, the 125 students were given eleven statements which they gave a score of between 1-10 depending on how much they agreed or disagreed with it.

These scores were added up and divided by the number of people who filled in the questionnaire. As a result, an average score was obtained for each statement.

We also carried out twenty-five in-depth interviews. These interviews were based on a structured but open-ended set of questions. In this way the interviewer was able to adapt and change the questions depending on the answers of the respondent.

The same list of questions were then given to twenty-five other students who used them as a basis for a piece of autobiographical writing on GCSE underachievement. The advantage of this method was that the respondent was able to express their own feelings without the pressure of having a researcher present.

The research team had all been members of the Y11 group that had taken their GCSEs in 1996. Participant observation was therefore an important method used in our research and gave our researchers valuable insight into GCSE underachievement.

All names of students, teachers and subjects have been changed in the report.

Table: 1

"I underachieved at GCSE because....."

Based on interviews with 125 students (59 boys and 66 girls)

Table 2: Subject & GCSE Results in 1996

Revision at Home

Our research revealed that students believed that a lack of revision was the most important factor why they did not do as well as they expected at GCSE. A total of 41% of those interviewed indicated that a failure to revise enough was a significant reason why they underachieved.

Deborah In (Subject M) I obtained a 'D' but I was told I could have obtained a 'C' and I know I could have done if I revised more than I did. I only revised for an hour the night before and a hour the morning of the exam. This was the same for all my exams.

Jennifer The three most important reasons for my underachievement were not enough revision, notes were messy and it was difficult to get started with revision.

The survey results indicate that lack of revision was more of a problem for boys than girls. A total of 45% of boys gave a lack of revision as a significant reason for their underachievement at GCSE (compared to 37% of girls). Boys seemed to have more difficulty in imposing the self-discipline needed for revising at home.

Liam I didn't do any revision and that is reflected in my results. I tried to revise with my friends. It lasted for about 5 minutes and then we got into watching TV and listening to music.

Alec I left the revision to the last minute - one or two days before an exam. I decided to start revising my subjects one or two months before the exams, but when it came round to revising I made up some sort of excuse.

Mark During revision time I was on my own. I never went out but did nothing. I found it hard to get on with it. I just wasted the revision time.

The boys appeared to be under more peer pressure not to revise. Sociologist such as Peter West (1996) and Ted Wragg (1997) have argued that many boys see schoolwork as being "feminine" and are therefore more likely to be influenced by comments made by their friends. Revising at home is not considered to be very "macho" and so therefore boys prefer being out playing sports.

Stuart The other pupils would tease you if you did your homework. So you did not work as hard as you could. I know I could have done better... I spent most of my time going out and playing sports because that is what most of my friends were doing.

Nicole Girls tend to compete more against each other. This therefore encourages girls to do better. I found that friends encouraged me to work harder by telling me they had started revising, encouraging me to revise as well. I found that if boys asked you if you have started revising yet and your response was "yes" - they would often refer to you as being a "boff". Boys wouldn't necessarily tell the truth about whether they had started revising or not. If they had, they would often lie and say they hadn't started yet.

Even boys who did revise were well aware of this pressure.

Michael My friends who were boys rarely revised and because I did they would take the 'mickey'. However, this only helped me as I thought I might as well act as they think I am and so I revised more.

A large number of students said they did not realise that revision would be so important. As girls tend to revise more than boys, maybe girls are more aware of what is needed to obtain good qualifications. Whereas boys are more likely to be involved in sport or gang activities, girls are more likely to spend their leisure time talking (McRobbie, 1976) and (OFSTED, 1996). Some of this talk may well be about the best way of obtaining good qualifications. Girls are therefore more likely to work harder and do more revision as they feel they have something to aim for.

Motivation is an important factor in determining revision for GCSE exams. According to Neil Postman, the economic and social changes that have taken place in the 1990s has undermined student motivation. Postman argues that the: "the traditional narrative which tells the young that they are what they do for a living and that therefore the main purpose of learning is to prepare them for entry into economic life is no longer powerful enough to motivate most students" (Postman, The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School, 1996).

Some sociologists such as Sue Sharpe (1976 & 1994), Helen Wilkinson (1994) and Miriam David & Gaby Weiner (1997) have argued that motivation is more of a problem for boys than girls. Sharpe and Wilkinson both claim that there has been a significant change in the attitude of girls towards their school work during the last twenty years. Wilkinson's research indicates that girls are now more ambitious than boys. Sharpe discovered that girls in the 1990s were much more likely than girls in the 1970s to stress the importance of having a good job or career.

Whereas there has been a growth in work opportunities for women, men are finding it more difficult to find work. This is a particular problem in the inner cities where the decline in traditional manual occupations has resulted in one in three young men being unemployed (OFSTED, 1996).

The publication of school league tables has encouraged schools to place particular emphasis on students obtaining A-C grades at GCSE. Other grades have been devalued and this has caused some students to be demotivated when their teachers told them they would probably fail to obtain an A-C grade.

Victoria I think I underachieved in (Subject E)... I knew I could not get a 'C' grade in (Subject E) so I did not work as hard as I did in other subjects.

As girls are more likely to spend their leisure time at home, perhaps it is easier for them to stay in and revise. Whereas with boys they are expected to go out and play sports more often. This probably means that boys need more self-discipline than girls to stay in and revise. There is a danger that students will be put off revising by believing they have too much material to study.

Students should also be advised to vary what they are revising and not to concentrate on just one part of the syllabus. Then there will be less chance that they will be unlucky with the questions.

Victoria The main reason I underachieved in (Subject E) was because when I revised I only concentrated on one particular area and so I did not vary what I was revising. When the exams came round I was extremely unlucky with questions and because nothing of what I had revised was asked.

Teachers could also help by breaking down the amount that pupils have to revise from, for example, by suggesting a different topic to revise from each week. Subject teachers could also help by drawing up a revision timetable.

Revision and Teachers

Our research indicates that the most important reason for underachievement at GCSE was a lack of revision. When students were asked to rank it on a ten point scale the average score was 5.48. This was .43 more than any other reason.

A lack of revision was a particular problem for boys. Whereas boys ranked it at 5.81, with girls it was only 5.20. Research indicates that boys are under considerable peer-group pressure not to revise. "There is much stronger peer-group pressure on boys not to be seen as keen on school-work. Boys derive status among their peers by being good at sport and by being physically strong and even aggressive." (Downes, 1996).

Our interviews indicated that students appreciated it when teachers helped them to revise.

Vicky Some teachers give you ideas on how to go about revising and even do some at school.

Nicole Some of my GCSE classes were very good towards the end, especially (Subject D) because the class was offered extra lessons every week. The teacher made you feel welcome and happy, and all our work was talked through.

Suzanne Many teachers did nothing to help us with our confidence or revision work. Other teachers were extremely helpful with notes, extra lessons, etc.

This appeared to increase motivation but in some cases it did create extra stress.

Suzanne I had much pressure from teachers put on me which made me nervous and worried before my exams. I knew they were expecting high grades from me and I was worried I wouldn't achieve them.

Some teachers left no time for revision. The timing of coursework sometimes created extra problems for students.

Stephanie I felt I could have revised a lot more. My revision was severely affected by the amount of coursework set to be handed in whilst the exams were on. (Subject S) was a particular problem. I had a project worth 33% of the grade and three other assignments.

As many teachers did not provide a structured revision programme, some students began to lose motivation. Many students would have preferred more time at home to revise. Our interviews indicated that a large number wanted more study leave.

Amy The last few weeks at school were very casual, people lost interest and did not do any work. I think that I would have done more revision if we had been allowed to work at home. I think the revision timetable was handled badly at Sackville. I feel we stayed on at school for too long.

Chloe I feel that because we did not actually get any study leave for our GCSEs I did not have enough time for revision.

Ashley I felt that there was not enough exam leave, we needed at least a week.

Ian We were not given enough time to revise. Some would have wasted the time but I feel I would have benefited from study time.

Homework and GCSE Underachievement

There is a considerable amount of sociological evidence available that suggests that there is a connection between homework and educational attainment. Research in Britain and the USA indicates that working class boys who do at least an hour's homework a night perform as well as middle-class boys in examinations. (Estelle Morris, 1996).

A recent study provides evidence that girls spend more time on homework than boys (S. Harris, 1993). Our research at Sackville School also provided information to support the view that there are gender differences concerning homework. Only 17% of the girls interviewed in our survey believed that a lack of homework was a significant reason why they underachieved. However, when boys were asked this question, 31% said that it was an important reason. On the 10 point scale that we used, there was a .88 gender difference in the response to this question.

Boys who were interviewed admitted that a lack of homework was a factor in their underachievement. Several students revealed that pressure from friends stopped them from doing homework.

Stuart My friends were brighter than me and they finished their homework quickly. I did not do enough homework because I wanted to go out with my friends.

Robert Bly (The Sibling Society, 1996) has argued that boys are much more likely to be influenced by their peer group than girls. This is a particular problem when homework is needed to complete GCSE coursework:

Alec Another reason for my underachievement was not doing my homework. Therefore my coursework was not of a good standard in some subjects. This was especially true of Subject O where I got an 'E' grade due to my coursework being an 'F' grade.

It has been argued that the decision to make coursework an important part of the GCSE examination system has penalised those who do not do enough homework. In The Gender Divide (HMSO, 1996) OFSTED inspectors claimed that girls work more diligently than boys at coursework.

Behaviour of Pupils in the Classroom

A recent report by government inspectors suggested that bad behaviour in the classroom is responsible for children underachieving at GCSE (OFSTED, 1996). This is supported by our Sackville study. Our research revealed that 31% of boys and 29% of girls believed that their under achievement in exams was a direct consequence of fellow pupils behaving badly.

When interviewed pupils were inclined to blame boys more than girls for this disruptive behaviour. Boys appear to be more easily distracted in the classroom and are less determined to overcome academic difficulties (Licht and Dweck, 1987). Boys are also more likely to cause discipline problems. For example, nationally, 80% of pupils excluded from secondary schools are boys (OFSTED, 1996).

A number of pupils identified reasons why bad behaviour occurs. Those interviewed often suggested that "image" was an important factor. Pupils did not want to be seen as doing much work because it did not look good for their image. Consequently, their behaviour deteriorated and the standard of their work fell.

Amy If the class you were in was rowdy I found that you did not want to admit to doing so much work because as no one else had done it and it felt embarrassing. This happened in (Subject H) where if you worked really hard then you stuck out and seemed very different from everyone else. If you worked you were thought of being sad. Whereas if you did not work you fitted more into the group.

Student interviews suggested that peer pressure was an important factor in determining behaviour in the classroom.

Mark The pupils were badly behaved in (Subject P), (Subject O) and (Subject J). If some pupils hadn't been there to distract me I probably would have worked much harder.

Stuart It was hard to work when others were badly behaved because you were teased if you were not like them.

Deborah I found that if some misbehaved the attitude of the other pupils changed. In most of these lessons the teachers spent most of the time telling the pupils who were misbehaving to stop doing it and so it did affect the amount learnt in the lesson.

However, some students were successful in resisting this peer pressure.

Michael The behaviour of the other pupils rarely affected me as I got on with what I needed to do.

Suzanne This was not a problem as all the pupils in my classes behaved well. I was in top sets and most pupils were more motivated than me anyway.

As Suzanne pointed out, disruptive behaviour was not a major problem in top sets. However, students in lower sets and mixed ability classes had more difficulty not being influenced by bad behaviour.

Emily In the (Subject E) class there was a great deal of peer pressure from the other pupils to take it easy. The behaviour was very negative i.e. none worked. However, I blocked this off and did work in my lessons - even though I did not like (Subject E) I wanted to do as well as I could.

Alec I am prone to misbehave in class if other people are mucking about. I muck about because I want to be noticed and look good in front of friends. This was especially true of (Subject P) because I was in a low set and the teacher had no control over the class.

Danielle Many pupils chose to muck around in class, especially in mixed ability classes. This stops other pupils from working, which means they are not learning all that they should.

Several students commented that their GCSE grades were influenced by the fear that they would be called derogatory names for trying to succeed. Some students even admitted that they tried to stop others from working.

Angela In (Subject E) me and a group of others would try and annoy the teachers and other students, who we saw as 'swots'.

Students often blamed their teachers for not controlling this bad behaviour.

Stephen Some teachers should have been stricter. In (Subject E) we talked too much and mucked around. This disrupted the class and my concentration.

Ian In (Subject J) my under achievement was due to the lack of control our teacher had over us.

Edmund In (Subject J) loads of the pupils mucked around each lesson. This meant that the teacher spent more time telling them off then teaching us. Because they weren't working, we didn't work either.

When some students in the class were badly behaved, it took the teacher longer to cover the syllabus.

Ashley Some pupils were badly behaved and this led to a loss of teaching time. Things were slowed down by the teacher having to repeat things to the disruptive pupils.

Stephanie In (Subject M), (Subject O) and (Subject S) the classes contained pupils that just did not care about their results and were as disruptive as possible, making the teachers spend a lot of time 'chasing them up' for missing work, etc.

Vicky Naughty and rebellious pupils are distracting and waste lesson and teaching time.

In some subjects so much time was lost that there was no time left for revision.

Sarah I believe that my underachievement in my GCSEs was largely due to my lack of revision. Some teachers completed the syllabus (i.e. Subject M in plenty of time and allowed us plenty of time to revise, whereas some teachers didn't complete the syllabus (or didn't complete it comprehensively - i.e. Subject J).

If students did not get on with their teachers, they would play up and generally try to make the class as disruptive as possible, and therefore contributing to the under achievement that took place.

Sarah In one particular subject we lost all respect for the teacher and the class in general played up. One teacher who taught us criticised us all the time and blatantly told us she didn't care if we passed or failed. We had absolutely no respect for this teacher and didn't try at all.

Relationship With Teachers

The type of relationship that students have with their teachers has a considerable bearing on their exam results. Teachers have different ideas about the type of behaviour that is consistent with the pupils' role. Similarly, pupils have conflicting views about what makes an ideal teacher.

Some pupils are unable to live up to the model of the ideal pupil held by their teacher. As a result, pupils may start to develop new patterns of behaviour which then influences their level of achievement. A considerable amount of research has been carried out into how teachers make sense of, and respond to, the behaviour of their pupils. In his book, Outsiders, Howard Becker, put forward his 'labelling theory of behaviour' (Becker, 1963). Becker's theory suggests that the classifying of behaviour by teachers leads to labels being attached to pupils. This classification
(a prediction made by the teacher on the pupil's likely success or failure) will then influence what will eventually happen to the pupil. For example, the teacher defines the pupil in a particular way, such as "bright" or "dull". This label will then affect the teacher when making predictions about the pupils' GCSE grades.

The pupil's self-concept will be shaped by the teacher's definition, either by the set the teacher has put the pupil in, or the comments the teacher might make. The pupil's behaviour then begins to reflect the teacher's expectations. Some sociologists such as Brian Jackson and J.W.B. Douglas have argued that this is an example of the "self-fulfilling prophecy theory". (Jackson, 1964 and Douglas, 1971) That is to say, the predictions made by teachers about the future success
or failure of pupils will tend to come true because of the definition that has been constructed.

In his study of Beachside Comprehensive, Stephen Ball found that teacher's labels had an influence of pupil achievement (Ball, 1986). At Beachside pupils were put into one of three bands. He argued that teachers developed stereotypical views of the different bands. For example, Band two pupils were considered to be "uncooperative and difficult to teach". According to Ball, the effect of this was the progressive deterioration in the behaviour and attitude of those pupils in Band two.

There is some evidence that the gender of the pupil influences the labelling process.
B. G. Licht and C. S. Dweck found that boys are more often criticised by their teachers and therefore developed negative feelings towards schooling (Licht & Dweck, 1989). This view is supported by research carried out by the Sackville GCSE Sociology Group. In 1995, a 10% representative sample of pupils at the school were asked about their perceptions of the differences in the way that boys and girls were treated in the classroom (Sackville, 1995). Over 58% of boys thought they suffered from discrimination. This included the belief that teachers were more likely to criticise boys than girls.

Licht & Dweck argued that as a result of this criticism, boys are more likely to blame their teachers when they fail. As girls tend to have better relationships with teachers, they are more liable to accept the blame for academic failure and are therefore willing seek help with their academic problems.

Marisa I don't think it is the teacher's responsibility to ensure you gain high grades and I think it is wrong to blame them. It is easy to blame underachievement on teachers and parents when really it was down to you.

Our research indicates that girls got on better with their teachers than boys did. Whereas 20% of girls said they believed that the relationship with their teacher had a negative effect on their GCSE grades, 29% of boys thought this was a problem. In our interviews, boys were more likely then girls to mention their bad relationships with teachers:

Edmund I did not get on with my (Subject J) and (Subject B) teachers. I feel this did affect my grades. For (Subject J) I ended up with a 'C' when I know that I could have got an 'A'... I did not work properly... for those teachers I did not get on well with.

Mark I did not get on with my (Subject P) teacher. It all started when I got moved from my friends for no reason. I therefore rebelled. The teacher moved those who didn't want to work, including me, to the back of the class. I then did no work at all.

Alec My (Subject T) teacher who for one reason or another told me off for something which was a minor incident or wasn't my fault. If someone else did something who were slightly more intelligent he seemed to tell them off nicely or not at all. I proved him wrong by getting a 'C' grade when he predicted a 'D'/'E'.

Relationships between the girls and their teachers were generally much better than those enjoyed by boys and their teachers (Abraham, 1995). One reason for this is that a higher percentage of girls than boys share the values of the teacher. Peter Woods has argued that girls are more likely to identify with teachers and try to earn their favour and are usually unconcerned about being regarded as "teachers' pets". Whereas boys are more concerned with the approval of their peer group rather than the approval of their teachers. (Woods, 1979)

Many of the high-achieving girls who were interviewed saw obtaining good GCSE grades as being not only important for themselves, but for their teachers as well.

Danielle I had a good relationship with my (Subject G) teacher but because of this I was worried about letting him down with the grade I achieved.

Amy The relationship that I had with my subject teacher was important. The subjects with the more committed teachers were the ones where I achieved better grades. The teacher in the top set for (Subject F) cared about what we got and worked hard on our behalf. I therefore not only wanted a good GCSE grade for me but one for her as well.

Sarah I got on very well with my (Subject J) and (Subject M) teachers, consequently I worked hard and therefore achieved the grades I wanted.

Some sociologists argue that boys relationships with teachers is being affected by the increase in the number of women teachers in schools. It is argued that some boys feel that women teachers give girls preferential treatment. This is supported by the research carried out by the Sackville GCSE Sociology Group. Of a 10% representative sample of the pupils at the school, 58.4% of the boys believed that women teachers treated girls better than boys in the classroom. They believed that this preference was illustrated in several different ways:

"... more likely to be friendly towards them" (40.5%)

"... more likely to verbally praise good work" (32.2%)

"... more likely to ask them to contribute to class discussion" (25.3%)

"... more likely to criticise pupils of the opposite sex" (23.4%)

An interesting aspect of this survey was that 20.7% of girls also thought that women teachers treated girls better than boys in the classroom, whereas, only 12.7% of girls thought that male teachers favoured boys over girls.

Gay Randall discovered in her study that teachers had more contact time with girls than boys. (Randall, 1987) Certainly with national projects such as 'Girls Into Science and Technology' and 'Girls and Technology Education' being launched, subjects traditionally seen as 'male' subjects are being made more 'girl friendly'. It could be argued that these initiatives are encouraging teachers to think more about the needs of girls and this is having a detrimental impact of the relationship between boys and their teachers.

Pupils relationships with their teachers is an important factor in determining GCSE grades. It is the teacher who is primarily providing the information that the pupil needs. If the teacher fails to deliver this knowledge in a positive and committed way, than the pupils are likely to produce a negative response. However bright they may be, they are going to reject what the teacher is trying to do and might well underachieve at GCSE.

Amy If I had uncommitted, uninterested and disorganised teachers, I did not work as hard. This happened in (Subject F) where she told us she did not care. She told us we would all fail. I didn't want her to feel as if she had any control over me. It made me hate the subject.

Vicky You know when a teacher is a good teacher, it is when they enjoy teaching, like showing pupils what they know. If the teachers show enthusiasm, makes the subject interesting and shows its importance, the pupils will do the best they can, out of their own choice.

Angela Some of my teachers seemed to get to know pupils individually which encourages the pupil to work harder and seem to enjoy the work more. I believe that if I had been given more attention and encouragement by the teacher I could have passed both subjects which I failed in.

Our interviews supported the research carried out by Edward Blishen (1969 and 1973) and John Maizels (1970) that pupils want teachers to be kind, warm, friendly, sincere and encouraging. It would seem that when the teacher makes an effort to understand the pupils and presents knowledge in an interesting and enthusiastic fashion - the pupils will want to do the best they can. If teachers value achievement they must first learn to value the pupils.

Teaching Methods

At Sackville the pupils feel that teaching methods had a great deal to with their underachievement. Of the eleven reasons given in our survey, only a lack of revision was considered to be more important. There was no gender difference with both 33% of girls and boys feeling that teaching methods was a significant factor in their underachievement at GCSE. On the 10 point scale that we used there was a small gender difference (5.31 girls and 4.80 boys) on this issue.

Pupils had conflicting ideas about what they liked or disliked about teaching methods. This reflects the different personalities and shows that no one teacher can please everyone.

Vicky Each teacher has a different method of teaching and I found certain methods suited me more than others. Pupils have to adapt but if every teacher thought the same way school would be boring.

Some pupils preferred a very structured approach where the teacher was able to convey information in a clear and straightforward way. However, most pupils favoured methods that encouraged them to be actively involved in the learning process.

Chloe I feel that discussion for me is the best way of learning. One of the main reasons I did well at GCSE was that I got on well with my teachers and therefore most of the time I felt confident so that I could go and talk to them if I didn't understand and try to get it explained.

Amy The teaching methods used by subject teachers were also very important. The lessons had to be interesting and involve working as well as listening to teachers. For example, in (Subject M) the teacher would talk a lot in the same tone of voice. The information would go over our heads.

Angela Teaching methods is a very important factor and determines how well the pupil is taught... If a teacher involves each member of the class in discussions then this makes the pupil aware of being "picked on" by the teacher and then they have to listen in order to answer questions. I found this was an effective method but I very much disliked it.

Sarah If a teacher has fun and is interesting but at the same time uses good teaching methods, then the class will enjoy the subject and try to do well. If the class is taught boringly then the class will make absolutely no effort to try hard and achieve bad results.

A number of pupils also complained about the pace of the teaching.

Natalie In (Subject F) and (Subject P) we just didn't cover the work required. The teaching methods were terrible. Every lesson was conducted the same and this became very boring.

Nicole Some of the teachers were trying to get the work finished quickly and they did not teach us anything.

Brendan My (Subject J) teacher did not do enough in-depth work. He was boring as well.

Our interviews tended to support the research carried out by Edward Blishen and John Maizels into pupils' opinions on teaching methods. Blishen's research was based on on an analysis of essays written by school pupils (Blishen, 1969 and 1973) and Maizels interviewed 330 ex-pupils (Maizels, 1970). Blishen and Maizels both concluded that pupils preferred an active rather than a passive approach to learning.Blishen and Maizels both found that the main complaint made by pupils was that they found school work boring. This was supported by our interviews.

Vicky One of the main reasons I underachieved was... my lack of concentration during lessons which I found boring and monotonous.Leanne The teachers who taught me (Subject J) had no idea how to get our class to listen and in most of the lessons I found myself drifting off to sleep because of the way they taught their subjects. They didn't make it at all interesting.

Stephanie I felt that the teaching methods used by my (Subject J) and (Subject O) teachers were appalling. I felt that I learnt very little in their classes. These were unwilling or unable to answer questions.

Edmund My (Subject J) teacher was really uninteresting. We just wanted to sleep all lesson. The teacher was always having a go at us and so I did not want to work for her. I didn't want to give her any satisfaction.

Michael I feel my relationship with my (Subject P) teacher was a poor one as I did not agree with her teaching methods. She was an old teacher who was set in her ways and these ways clearly bored the students and were ineffective.

It would seem that many of the pupils are now reacting to teachers in the way that Kohl predicted they would when he wrote about this subject twenty-five years ago (Kohl, 1970): "Many of the pupils of the future will not accept, as many of us did and still do, the dictatorial methods of teachers who regard the classroom as their own little despotic kingdoms."

Shortage of Textbooks

A recent report by the Office for Standards in Education revealed that a shortage of textbooks had "adversely affected the standards of 23% of secondary school lessons that had been inspected" (OFSTED, December, 1996). However, from our research it would seem that although a shortage of textbooks did create problems for pupils, it was not a major factor in underachievement at GCSE. Of those interviewed, only 13% believed that a shortage of textbooks was a significant factor in their underachievement at GCSE.

Some pupils complained that they were given printed sheets rather than GCSE textbooks.

Amy We did not have textbooks in (Subject M). Our teacher gave us printed sheet after printed sheet which had been photocopied and reduced in size to save money. These looked very boring and were a strain to read let alone understand.

Other students pointed out that sheets were easily lost and often appeared uninteresting.

Deborah In (Subject O) we were not given textbooks at all, so we were given printed sheets. (Subject M) was the same. We were also given printed sheets which was a pain as I kept losing them.

Several students mentioned they had to share textbooks.

Vicky It is awkward and distracting to have to share textbooks while reading and working in lessons. It also wastes a lot of time working out who is going to share with who. There was also the problem of different page numbers if certain editions are older/newer.

Sarah In (Subject J) a textbook was taken from us for a couple of months to enable Y10 to have books. But this was replaced after a while. We were always encouraged to buy books for ourselves and I found these particularly useful. Others complained about textbooks that were not always completely relevant to the course being studied.

Richard I found that some textbooks given to us were from the early 1980s and subsequently were in a bad way and out of date.

Stephanie There was not a shortage of textbooks but the textbooks we had for most subjects were not very useful. Suzanne Shortage of textbooks was a problem - especially concerning revision books.

Sets and Performance at GCSE

Our research at Sackville provided information that suggested that 15% of the pupils thought they underachieved because they were placed in the wrong set. There was very little difference between the sexes on this issue (14% girls and 16% boys). Students usually believed that it was better to be in the top sets at Sackville.

Nicole The top sets benefited a lot more than other sets. I feel they got the best teachers, best textbooks and more extra lessons were laid on for them. I don't think there is anything wrong with encouraging them like this, but the same benefits should be given to the lower sets as well.

Some students thought that they had been unfairly placed in the wrong set. As David Hargreaves has pointed out, the set that someone is in will influence teacher expectations. This in turn will influence student performance (Hargreaves, 1972).Students believed they suffered considerable disadvantages when they were placed in the wrong set. This was especially true in those subjects where the set you were in determined the grade you could obtain.

Stuart I was bright enough to be in the higher sets but because I fell to pieces during tests I was placed in lower sets. I should have been placed in sets not just on my test marks but by other work as well.

Brendan In (Subject E) I was in the wrong set. I feel I should have been in a higher set and I could have done the higher paper. Ben If I had been put in higher sets I would have had the chance of getting better grades.Students believed that there were more behavioural problems in the lower sets.

Alec I had the potential to get a 'B' grade in (Subject P), but I was put in the intermediate set. The rest of the people in the class mucked about. I followed them because I didn't want to be called a teacher's pet. In the end I only got a 'D' grade.

This was more of a problem for boys as they were more easily influenced by their peer group (Bly, 1996 and OFSTED, 1996)

Relationships with Parents

J.W. Douglas' book The Home and the School revealed that parents have a considerable influence over the academic performance of students in schools (Douglas, 1964). This pioneering research has been confirmed by other sociologists in the 1970s (Berthoud, 1976, Swift, 1977 and Mackinnon, 1978).

However, our survey suggests that students do not consider that their parents are an important influence on their GCSE results. Only 9% of those interviewed claimed that "problems with my parents" was a significant reason why they underachieved.

Some students complained they did not have enough contact with one or both of their parents. Students with divorced parents seemed to suffer from stress during the examination period.

Angela I felt that my relationship with my parents could have been the main factor why I underachieved at GCSE. My parents are divorced, so therefore I live with my mum. I do not keep in contact with my dad. My mum has to work a lot of the time so I gained little support, if any, from both parents.

Vicky Marital break-up is an awful time especially for kids, so that causes problems. I know someone who had to cope with her parents separation whilst doing her exams with little support from her family. It is an awful thing to happen.

Stephanie I was under a lot of stress during the exams due to my parents divorce.There were other factors that increased stress levels during the examination period.

Sarah At the time of my exams during my revision we actually moved house. I found this quite disrupting. At the same time my brother was doing his 'A' levels, so the environment in the house was quite stressful.

Some students became involved in negotiations with their parents in an attempt to reduce stress during this difficult time.

Danielle I had a deal with my mum that I was allowed to be stressed during the exams and she wasn't. She was also not allowed to tell me off for being stressed. This was because during my mocks we were both arguing a lot because we were both stressed. I then worried about these arguments in my exams and I felt this was the reason I did badly in my exams.

Several of the students interviewed felt that their parents nagged too much and they rebelled by not revising.

Deborah My mum pushed me to revise and I didn't like being told what to do so I didn't revise. My mum said I couldn't go out unless I revised, so I rebelled and instead of hurting my mum, I hurt myself by failing.

Ben My parents kept nagging me to get work done which did not help at all.

Brendan My parents nagged me too much. They thought I should do more work but I knew I was right doing the amount I did.

Ashley I normally get on well with my parents but they placed me under too much pressure before the exams. They said I should do more revision. I rebelled by not doing as much as I should have done. I revised better with friends but my parents discouraged this.

It appeared to be very important that parents did not put their children under too much pressure during the exams.

Sophie Although my dad nagged sometimes he didn't force me to work, and my mum just left me to it. I think if they had pressurised me I would have done even less work then I did, just to annoy them.

Suzanne My parents were always supportive and did not pressurise me. However, I often felt I had to do well to please them and felt pressure from myself.

Michael My relationship with my parents was good and I felt no pressure from them. I felt that I had to do the revision for myself rather than being forced by my parents.

Many parents appeared to know how to treat their children during this difficult time.

Vicky I must admit, I'm lucky, I have wonderful parents who have helped me and encouraged me throughout my life. They were brilliant when I did my exams.

Chloe I had a lot of encouragement from my parents who I feel played a large part in the results that I achieved.


Parents who had knowledge of the subjects being studied were particularly useful.

Amy My relationship with my parents helped me to achieve the marks that I did. They encouraged me and helped me to revise. For example, in (Subject J), where two out of three of my teachers were disorganised and did not cover all the work my dad, who has a degree in the subject, covered some of the work with me.

Leanne (Subject J) was my weakness and my dad helped me out wherever he could. My parents helped me all the way through my exams and made me revise. If they hadn't have been there to help me revise, I wouldn't have.

Gender, Education, Work and Marriage

We can see from Sackville's GCSE results that there is definite relationship between gender and underachievement. Up until the late 1970s national statistics have suggested that although girls often performed well in the early years of schooling, boys caught up and overtook girls in the later stages of secondary education (Blackstone, 1976 and Whyld, 1983).

However, since the early 1980s boys have found it more difficult to catch up and girls have been outperforming boys at GCSE. In 1994 girls gained higher grades than boys in languages and the humanities and were almost level with boys in subjects such as maths and science.

This trend was reflected in the GCSE results at Sackville where 62.8% of girl entries obtained an A-C grade whereas only 50.8% of boys reached this standard.

It had been argued by some sociologists that changing attitudes towards marriage might be a factor in the improving performance of girls at school. In 1972 and 1991 Sue Sharpe carried out research into "female perspectives on education, work, family life and other aspects of the feminine role." (Just Like a Girl, 1976 and How Girls Learn to be Women, 1994)

Sharpe discovered that between 1972 and 1991 girls' priorities changed. In 1972 over two-thirds of the girls interviewed wanted to get married. According to Sharpe "these girls had implicitly accepted that a husband and family were the most satisfying things in a woman's life." However, in 1991 Sharpe discovered that the percentage of girls who wanted to get married had dropped from 81% to 45%.

Sharpe also discovered that there had been changes in attitude towards work. Although the majority of girls still expected to go into jobs that Sharpe classified as "women's work" there was a significant increase in the number of girls expressing professional career hopes such as doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc. Sharpe has argued that these changes in attitudes towards marriage and work are factors in explaining why girls are performing better at school than they were twenty years ago.

Research carried out by Helen Wilkinson (No Turning Back, 1994) supports the conclusions made by Sue Sharpe. Wilkinson studied the information gathered by Synergy, a market research company which has interviewed representative samples of 2,500 people over a period of 20 years. Wilkinson has identified that women are much more concerned now with their careers than they were in the 1970s. This has influenced their attitude towards education and their improved performance at school and university has enabled them to enter "professions previously seen as male preserves. Medicine and dentistry are two examples. Women now account for 54% of newly qualified solicitors - an increase of almost 9% over the last seven years - and 37% of the new intake of chartered accountants are female - an increase of over 10% in the last decade."

Wilkinson argues that "jobs requiring physical strength... are in decline. Employers increasingly want a more flexible and dexterous workforce - attributes associated with more women than men... Many of the long term growth areas rely on caring skills and the ability to cope well with face to face interactions."

In Gender Divisions in a Post-Fordist Era, (1992) Linda McDowell has argued that recent changes in the economy has favoured the employment of women over men. She has pointed out that the growing service industries depend on good customer relations, articulacy and personal presentation - all of which favour women over men.

These changes in the economy have had the effect of persuading girls to work harder at school. The knowledge that there are more and more places for them in the workplace, encourages them to 'deter gratification' in order to obtain a well-paid job later on.

Feminisation of Schooling

There was a significant gender difference in the attainment of GCSE grades A-C at Sackville School. In 1996 girls had a 62.8% of obtaining an A-C grade whereas for boys it was only 50.8%. The gap narrowed slightly in 1997 but the problem remains (63% and 52%) Similar figures are found in most schools in Britain and some sociologists are explaining these differences by what they call the "feminisation of schooling".

Peter West has argued that young males see no clear link between the learning process and being a male (1997). Ted Wragg has pointed out that at home boys are more likely to be taught to read by their mothers (1997). Miriam David & Gaby Weiner (1997) came to a similar conclusion after studying a sample of families in London: "we found that fathers rarely helped at home with literacy activities, leaving it all to mothers". In many cases boys rarely see their fathers reading. Peter West believes that some boys are growing up with the feeling that "real men don't read".

At primary school boys will probably be taught by women teachers. This situation will begin to change in the secondary school but by this stage boys have established fairly strong views on the link between gender and education.

Influence of Friends

When students of Sackville School were asked why they underachieved at GCSE 16% of them said that the influence of their friends was an important factor in this. Friends appear to be particularly important in influencing the amount of revision that takes place during the examination period.

Amy I think that the influence of your friends is very important. I think you usually end up by doing the amount of work your friends do. If your friends go out in the evening or afternoons you are more likely to go out with them, and likewise, if they stay in and work then you are more likely to do that as well.

Stuart I spent most of my time going out and playing sports because that is what most of my friends were doing.

Edmund When it came to revision and homework or friends, going out with friends was always more appealing.

Suzanne My best friend at the time was expecting low grades and so she didn't bother to revise. If she had I would've been motivated to revise more.

Friends could also have a negative influence in the classroom.

Angela In (Subject O) I sat with a really good friend of mine who was always in trouble and never took anything seriously. She encouraged me to misbehave.

Friends could also have a positive effect on GCSE results.


Nicole I found that friends encouraged me to work harder by telling me they had started revising, encouraging me to revise as well.

Chloe The main reason why I think I did as well as I did in my GCSE examinations is because I have friends with high standards like me which I feel encouraged me quite a lot.

 

Comments Made By Pupils

It has been suggested that a students performance during exams can be influenced by comments made by other pupils. Many teenagers worry about being labelled as a 'swot' or 'teacher's pet'. It is not seen as 'cool' to study or revise for your GCSEs. There is a danger that negative labels such as 'swot' may encourage pupils to reduce the amount of work that they do in order to obtain a different label.

In The Divided School (1979) Peter Woods argued that boys are more concerned with the approval of their peer group than the approval of their teachers. In Learning to Labour (1977) Paul Willis claimed that boys sometimes resort to disruptive behaviour in order to obtain status. For example, the 'lads' were in constant competition with one another. If one boy was rude to a teacher, the other lads would try to be even ruder.

In The Sibling Society (1996) Robert Bly suggests that boys are more likely to be influenced than girls by peer group pressure. This view was supported by the OFSTED report The Gender Divide (1996). There are several reasons why girls appear to be less influenced than boys by comments made by fellow pupils. One reason could be that boys are less mature and find these comments more upsetting. Whereas girls are able to rise above the comments and see them as 'light-hearted'.

Vicky Comments made by boys to girls are usually not taken seriously, but boys do worry about this. Boys are encouraged by their friends greatly and have to be part of a group, it's not cool to do
homework or revision.

Stuart The other pupils would tease you if you got a good grade or if you did your homework. So you did not work as hard as you could. I know I could have done better.

Alec I was in top set for (Subject J). You are meant to be clever in the top set but I was not one of these and therefore my friends teased me. This led to me not trying, therefore only getting a Grade C when, I think I could have got a B or A.


Girls are far more frequently seen as teachers' pets. However, for many girls, to be described as 'sad' etc. only makes them work harder. As Peter Woods pointed out in The Divided School, these girls are happy to identify with their teachers and will enjoy trying to earn their favour.

Danielle Some people viewed revising, work, exams, etc. as a waste of time and that you were 'sad' if you did any of these things. It was best if you kept it from these people if you were doing any work because they would tease and bully you. This was especially true of comments made by male pupils - 'street cred'.

Suzanne None of the pupils made comments about me and I would not have cared if they did. I was working hard to get results for my future - deep down inside, I knew, even the pupils who didn't try or 'appear' to care would have loved to have done well.

Stephanie There were a few comments e.g. "swot" but these were light-hearted and did not effect my performance."

Maybe girls are able to ignore comments from other pupils or treat them as a joke because of their tight social groups and their tendency to have one close friend who they are able to talk to about their problems. This is something that males find very difficult to do.

Social Life

The subject of student's social lives was not directly investigated in our survey. However, the information that we collected suggested that it was a factor in underachievement. For example, reasons 'I did not do enough revision' and 'I did not do enough homework during the course' were ranked as 1st and 4th most important reason for underachievement. Our in-depth interviews suggested a clear link between these reasons and a student's social life.

A large number of students said they felt that their social life was more important than homework and revision, and now, looking back, felt that it had damaged their results. At the time they had thought that they had better things to do, and friends came before revision.

Angela I felt I could have revised more but unfortunately I let my social life get in the way too much. I had planned to make a revision timetable in order to get myself organised but I never did get round to it.

Suzanne I was more interested in my social life than sitting at home revising. Hannah I could have done more revision and homework. My social life interfered with my studies.

Toby I did not do enough revision because I was going out too much. I had a job and I was also trying to have a social life.

Boyfriends seemed to be especially important.


Suzanne My boyfriend was a big factor in why I did less well. I felt worried about my boyfriend instead of putting all my effort into my exams.

Other students commented that friends pressurised them into socialising and therefore prevented them from working. This appeared to be more of a problem for boys than girls.

Edmund I found it difficult to actually sit down and revise, there was a lot of peer pressure to go out with my mates.

Several of the students said that they did not realise how important revision was until after the exams.

Deborah I underachieved due to the fact my social life was too important to give up and I didn't realise how important my GCSEs were until it was too late.

Ashley I did not do enough revision. At the time I thought I had better things to do. I now regret it.

While it might appear that the main reason for a failure to do homework is a lack of motivation, a closer examination of the evidence suggests that a desire to have a social life is just as important.

Nerves and Exams

Many students feel after their GCSE examinations that they have not reached their full potential. Our survey shows that a high percentage of students underachieve because of some defect in their preparation.

However, for others it is the actual examination that is the problem. Some students become very tense and nervous before and during their exams. This sometimes meant that they were unable to think rationally. They misread questions and made silly mistakes. Some suffered from 'a mental block' and were not able to recall information that prior to the exam they knew well:

Ben I got very nervous in the exams. I think this affected my achievement.

Mandy I get really nervous and feel pressurised. As soon as I enter the exam room my mind goes blank.

They found that they were under immense pressure in the exam hall. Students were worried that they would not be able to finish the paper. Some students found that they were concentrating so much on answering the questions that they ran out of time.

Sarah I write really slowly in exams, just to make it look neat. I read the questions really carefully too. I often waffle and write more than I should, meaning that I run out of time and waste valuable marks. It's not fair, as given enough time, I could complete the whole exam and do really well.

Sometimes, however, it can go the other way and students would wizz through the exam as quickly as possible in order not to run out of time, often misreading the questions and putting in irrelevant
information.

Ben My handwriting is not very neat when I write fast. I would have written a lot slower in the exams but if I did, I would have run out of time.

Jane I'm hopeless in exams. I get so flustered. I feel that I have to race through the paper, just so that I finish. I usually read the questions wrong, or answer more or less than I should.

The matter of boredom and concentration during exams also came through. Many find that the completely silent atmosphere and the concentrating on just one task for over an hour, too much to bear. While some feel glued to their seats, others get really restless.

Mark I am no good at exams. I get bored after 25 minutes and start flagging. I have a short concentration span.

Steve I start off all right, but after a while it gets really boring. I usually muck about in class, but in exams I have to sit there for hours. I feel like getting up and leaving.

Class Size

Politicians and teachers often complain that class size is an extremely important factor in determining student attainment. Our research suggests that students also feel that this has a considerable influence on their performance. Of the 125 students we interviewed, 37 (19%) said class size was a significant reason why they underachieved at GCSE. It was noticeable that class size was much more important to girls (30%) than boys (7%).

The main reason that students prefer smaller classes concerns the amount of time that a teacher can spend with them:

Stephen 'A' level classes are smaller and I feel I get more individual attention now. I would
have liked smaller classes at GCSE. I feel I would have obtained higher grades in smaller classes.

Stuart My teacher could not get round to everybody. If there had been less pupils in the class it would have been easier to ask for help.

David I felt that there were too many pupils in most of the classes. If there had been less pupils they
could have had more individual attention.

Toby Class sizes were not a major problem but I might have achieved higher grades with more one to one tuition. It was argued by students that the smaller the class, the less chance there was of experiencing disruptive behaviour.

Ashley Small groups are better because you get more individual attention, less distraction and fewer disruptive pupils.

Another important factor was that large classes inhibited some students from taking part in oral work.


Chloe With (Subject J) I felt I never had a lot of confidence in the lessons in oral work because the class was very big and I didn't particularly get on well with the teacher. However, in other classes, for example (Subject A) and (Subject F), where the classes were smaller, I was always willing to speak up in the lesson.

Why Some Pupils Did Well

Emily and Holly were both very successful at obtaining excellent GCSE grades. Afterwards they were asked why they did so well at GCSE:

Emily The main reasons why I think I did as well as I did in my GCSE examinations are: (1) Through revision and note taking - spending hours each day in every subject; (2) A great deal of time and effort spent on coursework; (3) Good relationships with all my teachers; (4) Extra work after school; (5) Extreme worry about the examinations that made me work non-stop; (6) Determination to get as high grades as possible and to get into A-levels; (7) Support from my family and teachers.

Holly The three main reasons why I did as well as I did in my GCSE examinations are: (1) My revision was timetabled and I made sure I stuck to it; (2) My relationship with my parents - they encouraged me but never put too much pressure on me. They also helped me with anything I didn't understand. (3) There was no pressure from my friends to do badly.

These comments reveal the importance of hardwork and self-discipline. Both students developed revision timetables to help them impose this self discipline. The importance of this is illustrated by the fact that 41% of the students considered that "I did not do enough revision" was a significant reason for their underachievement.

Emily and Holly both worked hard throughout the course. Other successful students such as Victoria and Suzanne agreed on the importance of working hard over a two-year period:

Victoria I worked hard throughout the whole of Year 11 and most of Year 10 so I did not get really stressed and worried before the exams were about to start.

Suzanne The main reason I did as well as I did was because I listened in class, did my work and always did my homework.

Emily also believed that the willingness to spend a lot of time on coursework was also important. Victoria agreed with Emily on this:

Victoria I did as well as I did in my GCSEs was because I worked hard and achieved good grades for coursework, which made me feel more confident about sitting the exams.

The relationship that students had with their teachers was also of primary importance. A quarter of the students interviewed said that they underachieved because they did not get on with theirteachers. Successful pupils seemed to have the ability to get on with most of their teachers.

Melanie I did fairly well in my GCSEs because I had good relations with most, if not all of my subject teachers, which I think helped a lot.

Vicky One of the main reasons I did well was the teachers' attitudes towards me, the interest they showed, the help and encouragement they gave me.

Over 30% of the students said they did not like the teaching methods used by their teachers. Students particularly valued teaching strategies that helped to prepare them for the final examination.

Victoria I answered lots of past papers and did lots of timed essays so I got used to the types of questions that were likely to be asked.

Joanna The main reason I did well was (a) revision; (b) practised exam questions; (c) supplemented all work with extra notes.

Stephanie The main reasons why I did well at GCSE was my own personal hard work and the encouragement of particular teachers (Subject M, Subject K and Subject F). These teachers made an effort to go through past papers and explain them.

Alec One of the reasons I did well was that teachers gave us a good idea of what would be in the exams.

Although only 9% of students said that problems with parents was a significant reason why they underachieved, a large number of successful students referred to their good relationship with their parents. What students appear to need during their exams is parents that are supportive while at the same time do not put them under too much pressure.

Working Mothers and GCSE Results

Recent research by Margaret O'Brien (Missing Mums, 1997) has suggested that children of full-time working mothers do less well at GCSE than those with non-working mothers. Margaret O'Brien argues that her research indicates that 25% of the children of women with full-time jobs gained no GCSEs, while only 11% of children from families where mothers only work part-time gained no qualifications. O'Brien also discovered that boys of working mothers did particularly badly at GCSE.

O'Brien argues that "mothers are key figures for education talk, for talking about homework and for discussing what has gone on during the day. It appears that for children who are living in households where the mother is working part-time, she's around more at the time of day when the children want to talk about these issues."

O'Brien's research has been criticised by other sociologists. Peter Lee of Glasgow University has pointed out that the research was carried out on a very small sample in one small area of the country (600 families living in Barking & Dagenham). Peter Lee adds that the research was carried out over two-years, a period that was too short to provide any meaningful information on the subject.

Others like Chris Pond of the Low Pay Unit has claimed that most parents do not make
a "choice" about whether or not to work. The Rowntree inquiry into income and wealth published two years ago found that poverty rates amongst couples would have been 5% higher without women's earnings. As Chris Pond has pointed out: "Are we really to believe that children's educational achievement would be enhanced by living in poverty, but with mother at home to talk about the homework." (The Guardian, 4th February, 1997)

Polly Toynbee has suggested that O'Brien thesis is undermined by information that of the families that she studied, "it was the children of stay-at-home non-working mothers that do worse of all at GCSE". Toynbee adds: "This is survey of higher manual and lower clerical grade women in Barking & Dagenham. How can you extrapolate the experiences of these families and apply them to, say, affluent families with access to the best nurseries, nannies, or indeed a boarding school." (The Independent, 4th February, 1997)

Our research at Sackville does not support Margaret O'Brien's thesis about the link between mothers who work and poor GCSE results. Only 9% of our sample mentioned that their parents were a significant reason for their underachievement. Overall, this statement was ranked 10th out of 11th with an average of 2.61 on a 10 point scale. What is more, in the in-depth interviews we carried out, the problem of having a working mother was rarely mentioned. When it was, it was usually linked with the problem of divorce.

Angela My parents are divorced, so therefore I live with my mum. I do not keep in contact with my dad. My mum has to work a lot of the time so I gained little support, if any, from both parents.

Recommendations

After studying the results of the structured questionnaires and the in-depth interviews
we have attempted to analyse and isolate the main reasons for underachievement at GCSE. We have decided to make recommendations under three different categories: Students, Teachers and Parents.

Students

(1) Revision

Problem A lack of effective revision was identified as the major reason for GCSE underachievement.

Recommendations

(a) It is impossible for two years of learning to be crammed into the short period of time before the examination. We recommend you start revision early. It is said by teachers all the time but it cannot be stressed enough.

(b) The condition in which revision is done has a major influence on its effectiveness. The room needs to be quiet and reasonably cold. Do not even think about revising on your bed, revision gets boring and you will fall asleep.

(c) Produce a revision time-table and then keep to it.

(d) Preferred revision technique is something that varies from person to person but it important that you ask questions of the material that you are studying.

(e) Reading through your notes is not a very effective way of revising. Check that the methods that you are using are helping you remember and understand the subject material.

(2) Homework

Problem Over 31% of the boys interviewed believed that a lack of homework was a significant reason for GCSE underachievement. At the same time students who obtained good grades often claimed that doing the homework that was set was a significant factor in their success.

Recommendations

(a) Always do the homework that has been set. It will be impossible for you to cover the whole syllabus without doing this homework.

(b) Try to resist peer pressure not to do your homework. Remember, many of those involved in applying pressure on you will be doing more homework than they say they are doing.

(3) Teaching Methods

Problem Many students were unhappy with the way they were being taught. Over 33% of students thought that the teaching methods used by their teachers was a significant reason for their underachievement.

Recommendations

(a) Teachers, like students, respond well to positive feedback. If the teacher uses a method that is effective, let him or her know.

(b) Teachers often use traditional, didactic methods, because they feel that it gives them more classroom control. Do not reinforce this idea by taking advantage when alternative methods are used.

(c) Methods of teaching that involve classroom discussion are more difficult to organise and control. Help to encourage your teacher to use these methods by keeping to the rules ("one person speaking at a time", etc.)

(d) Speak to your teacher individually after the lesson. Get them to explain things you do not understand in the lesson.

(4) Student-Teacher Relationship

Problem Some students underachieve because they do not get on with their teachers. It is a widespread problem and does affect learning and consequently GCSE exam grades.

Recommendations

(a) All students should be aware of their responsibilities in achieving a good relationship with their teacher.

(b) Do not allow peer group pressure to damage your relationship with the teacher. You have more chance of doing well in your exams if you have a friendly relationship with your teacher.

(c) Arrange a meeting with your teacher if you feel you are having a bad relationship. Find out if you are doing something that is upsetting your teacher. Once you discover the problem it might be possible to change this behaviour.

(d) If all else fails, explore the possibility of being moved into another group.

(5) Pupil Behaviour

Problem A total of 30% of those interviewed said they underachieved because some of the pupils were badly behaved.

Recommendation

(a) Talk to the people who are disrupting the lesson. Apply peer pressure in an effort to persuade them to behave in the appropriate manner.

(b) If you believe that your learning is being hindered by badly behaved pupils in
the class then talk to your teacher about how this problem can be solved. If this does not work see the Head of Department and ask to be moved or have the troublemakers moved out.

Teachers

(1) Relationships

Problem Many students felt that the reason they underachieved was because they did not get on with their teachers. When there was a personality clash, pupils were often unwilling to work hard to please their teacher. At the same time students who got on with their teachers tended to work hard in an effort to achieve high grades. Some teachers got to know their pupils individually which encouraged students to work harder. It was clear from our interviews that a good relationship with the teacher was considered to be vitally important in achieving good exam results.

Recommendations

(a) Attempts should be made by teachers to increase the individual interaction between themselves and their students.

(b) Teachers should avoid giving the impression that they do not care if the students get bad grades.

(c) Research suggests that students want their teachers to be "kind, warm, friendly, sincere and encouraging".

(2) Bad Behaviour

Problem The behaviour of a few pupils appeared to have a disruptive influence on the educational process. This was a particular problem with low sets. A few teachers appeared to have difficulty in controlling a large percentage of their pupils.

Recommendations

(a) Action should be taken to remove from examination classes those students who are persistently disruptive.

(b) Attempts should be made to help those teachers who have severe discipline problems to develop the skills needed to control student behaviour.

(c) The creation of special courses for those students who do not expect, or want to obtain good grades at GCSE.

(3) Labelling

Problem Some student felt they were not liked and had been given a negative label by their teacher. This often resulted in the student fulfilling the role allocated to them and the label became a "self-fulfilling prophecy". This was especially a problem for students in low sets. Some of those interviewed believed that teachers had developed a picture in their mind before the course started that the students would be incapable and uncontrollable.

Recommendations

(a) That teachers should be constantly aware of the dangers of negative labelling.

(b) Effort should be made to improve relationships with students who appear to be underachieving. These pupils respond better to encouragement than to criticism.

(4) Gender

Problem Our research suggests that students think that teachers give girls preferential treatment. This perception is encouraging some boys to develop negative attitudes towards schooling. According to research carried out by sociologists such as John Abraham (1995) and Peter Woods (1979), teachers get on better with girls because they tend to have a stronger desire to obtain 'teacher approval'.

Recommendations

(a) It is necessary for teachers to help convince boys that teachers are nor prejudiced against them. Factors that need to be considered are:

(1) Are you more likely to be friendly towards girls than boys?
(2) Are you more likely to verbally praise good work by girls?
(3) Are you more likely to ask girls to contribute to class discussion?
(4) Are you more likely to criticise boys for their written work?

(5) Teaching Methods

Problem In some cases students got on well with the teacher but disliked the teaching methods being used. Many students were unhappy that in those subjects where individual interpretation is important, they were not always given the opportunity to express their opinions. Students found "being talked at" very boring and not very beneficial. Complaints were also made about teachers using the same method for every lesson. Some students were unhappy with the degree of energy and commitment of the teaching they received. When teachers did not show enthusiasm for their work, students tended to find the lessons boring and demotivating.

Recommendations

(a) Students like teachers to vary their teaching methods.

(b) Students tend to prefer active-learning over passive-learning.

(c) Students value the freedom to ask the teacher questions about the subject material.

(d) Successful teachers are able to communicate their passion for the subject. In many cases the energy and enthusiasm of the teacher influenced the amount of effort the students put into their own work.

(e) Students expressed a dislike for the use of just one textbook. Others complained that is some subjects there were not enough textbooks available

(f) A coursework timetable should be worked out so that students do not come under too much pressure at certain times in the year.

(6) Exam Grade Forecasts

Problem The publication of school league tables has encouraged schools to place particular emphasis on students obtaining A-C grades at GCSE. Several students said they were demotivated after they received their grades after the mock exams. This was especially a problem when the student was given the impression that they had no chance of obtaining an A-C grade.

Recommendations

(a) The school should try not to give the impression that they are only interested in students who are likely to obtain A-C grades.

(b) Teachers should take great care when telling students what grade they expect them to get in the final exam. A low mock exam grade might encourage some pupils to work harder but many will be demotivated by this experience.

(7) Revision Timetable

Problem Students had strong feelings about the help that individual teachers gave them with revision. In many cases, students thought that this made a significant impact on the grade that they obtained. Many students complained that they were unable to revise all the subject matter during exam leave.

Recommendations

(a) Time should be set aside at the end of the course for revision.

(b) Teachers should help students plan their revision time. For example, by suggesting a different topic to revise each week. Students particularly valued the special exam notes that some subject teachers provided.

(c) Students need help to discover the best way to revise. Many students complained that methods such as reading their notes or textbooks were not very effective at helping them remember information.

(d) Students found revision lessons after school very helpful. Teachers who offered extra lessons showed that they cared about their students. Students often wanted to do well to reward these teachers.

(e) Revision should involve students answering questions from past papers so that they are familiar with the layout of the exam and have a good idea of what to expect.

(f) Each student should have a teacher counsellor who they could talk to about their GCSE work. The counsellor could also give guidance on drawing up a revision timetable.

(g) Although teachers are constantly telling students about the important role that revision plays in good exam grades, the message is not always believed. Maybe it would be a good idea to arrange for Y12 students to talk to Y11 students about the importance of revision.

(h) Teachers should arrange for lessons on how to cope with the stress of taking GCSE exams.

(f) Study leave should be longer for those who study better at home than in school.

Parents

Problem Some students felt they were being pushed too hard by their parents. In many cases they reacted by rebelling and consequently reduced the amount of time they spent revising for the GCSE exams.

Recommendation

(a) Students experience a great deal of stress during the period leading up to the GCSE examinations. If your children feel they are being pushed too hard there is a danger that they will rebel and as a result will be unwilling to do any purposeful revision.

(b) Talk to your children about ways of reducing the stress they are feeling.

(c) Make sure your child has good conditions in which to revise.

(d) Students are often unsure about the amount of revision that they need to do. Parents can provide a fresh and experienced mind to the problem.

(e) One student said "after twenty minutes revision stops being revision and becomes a staring game." Make sure that your child takes regular breaks.

(f) A certain amount of social life is essential during the revision period. Negotiate with you child a reasonable amount of time for social activities.