Pupils resorted to sleepovers, ride-shares and lifts from teachers as hundreds of thousands took GCSE and A-level exams on the first day of a national rail strike. With more than 280,000 pupils in England and Wales sitting GCSE history in the morning and close to 90,000 taking A-level maths in the afternoon, some relied on friends, family, or school arrangements to reach exam centres.
School leaders reported no students missing exams due to the strike, though some centres delayed morning exam start times. Siobhán Lowe, headteacher of Tolworth Girls' School in Surbiton, said: "We warned students and staff in advance so they were able to organise sleepovers and lifts." Schools used WhatsApp groups to coordinate car rides and deployed minibuses to pick up pupils.
Robin Bevan, headteacher of Southend High School for Boys, noted that about 10% of his pupils depend on trains daily, including a "small number" taking exams. He said: "All our exam candidates made suitable alternative arrangements to enable them to be in school in good time." National transport surveys indicate only 2-4% of secondary pupils regularly travel by train.
The Department for Education advised schools to prioritise spending to support pupils but offered no additional funding. Sarah Hannafin of the National Association of Head Teachers criticised this, saying: "Schools have not been given the funding to do this. At a time when school budgets are stretched thin, this is simply not a viable suggestion."
A teacher in Portsmouth reported that a college delayed 9am exams by half an hour to allow extra travel time, though two students arrived at 6.30am due to lack of alternatives. The teacher warned that more students may face difficulties on Thursday, when a tube strike in London coincides with the second day of the rail strike, affecting GCSE physics and combined science papers, as well as A-level chemistry.
The combined strikes may force some schools, particularly primaries in central London, to partially or fully close if staff cannot travel. Julie McCulloch of the Association of School and College Leaders said: "The decision to close a school for in-person teaching is never made lightly and only happens when there is no other option."
