“I was just expected to go into school and sit GCSE exams just like everyone else, two days after being traumatised for a second time. I honestly have no clue how I coped - but that’s not really the point. I shouldn’t have been expected to cope.”

A friend of mine, who is currently a student in his first year at university, told me this recently. We were talking about the effects that mental illness can have on a student’s ability to access certain parts of the school curriculum.

Many of the books taught on GCSE and A-level courses contain potentially triggering topics, such as sexual assault, suicide and drug abuse. Although there is an argument to be made that teenagers should be exposed to literature that challenges them and pushes them out of their comfort zones, we shouldn’t overlook the impact that discussion of these topics can have on young people who have direct experience these things or another personal trauma.

Protecting student mental health

Up until the end of January of Year 11, my friend, wishes to remain anonymous, was on track to get a grade 9 in his English literature GCSE exam. This all changed when he went through a traumatic experience involving the suicide attempt of a loved one and developed a mental illness that would go on to completely change his experience of life.

“The subjects I was studying did not make life at all easier,” he explains. “There were triggers scattered across my Latin set texts, and there was not one set text for English which was OK…[for instance] I’d be hard-pressed to find a single scene or character in An Inspector Calls I could even begin to engage with.”

My friend went on to get a grade 7 in English literature. Although he faced triggers for personal trauma in the exams that he sat, he doesn’t blame the exam board for the challenges he faced. Instead, he feels that the lack of support the school offered him in accessing the texts after the traumatic experience is what set him back.

So what should schools do to support students who may have suffered similar experiences to my friend? The exam boards point out that there is an option to apply for “special consideration” in these circumstances.

“The exam boards work closely with their regulators to determine texts that are suitable for study,” says a spokesperson for the Joint Council for Qualifications.

“Within each subject, there is flexibility for schools to make decisions based on their knowledge of individual students and maximising their chances of success. Teachers are also able to apply for special consideration after an exam if there are specific concerns around triggering content and the suitability of set curriculum texts.”

Give students input into text choices

Given this - and looking back on my own experience of recently sitting GCSEs and A levels - I believe it would be good practice for students to be asked for input into what books we would like to study, with the option to explain to the teacher in private about any triggering issues they might struggle with. Of course, the school won’t be able to offer the right support if they aren’t even aware that there is a problem in the first place, but there needs to be an easy route available for students to talk about issues they might be facing.

This would help to avoid making students feel that they have to compromise their mental health in order to achieve the grades required to move on to the next stages of their work or education.

Ollie Wells has recently completed Year 13