Last month, GCSE exams in biology, Latin and media studies ran on the same day. The following day, pupils sat English literature, economics and classical civilisation. Teenagers taking this combination of subjects spent 10 hours in the exam hall over two days, writing solidly at a table, in isolation, against the clock.
It’s a strange ritual and as far away from what happens in everyday life as one could imagine. For many teachers and commentators, it is a method that is no longer fit for purpose.
