Rachel Arnold, English lecturer and English teaching and learning coach at Solihull College & University Centre and Research Further scholar
“I’ve already failed before, and I had tried really hard. Why try again? It’s too difficult to keep being told you’re not good enough, because you keep failing.” This reaction was expressed after results day by a student who had failed their English GCSE for the third time, and is all too familiar for our English and maths resit learners in FE. One third of teenagers in the UK find themselves in a position of “failure” after their GCSEs in year 11, if they do not achieve a grade 4 or above.