The GCSE English literature exam that my students sat on Monday had an absolute gift of a question; we’d spent plenty of time studying exactly what was covered.
Having heard from other students what the exam questions were, I couldn’t wait to see my teaching group.
“How was the exam?” I asked them, expecting to see smiles of relief.
Only, there were no smiles. Instead, looks of discontent.
“The prediction was wrong, Miss.”
Slightly confused, I asked what they were talking about. I’ve never given classes a “predicted” question, specifically because there’s no way of really knowing what an exam might cover.
However, my students told me that there are a number of online “exam influencers” claiming to be able to do just that. They are making TikTok and YouTube videos for GCSE students, confidently predicting the questions that are going to come up. I was horrified.
TikTok ‘predicting’ exam questions
On probing a little deeper, I discovered that some students had been using these predictions as the main focus in their revision, rather than the carefully planned, broad and balanced curriculum revision provided by those working in school with them every day.
They were taking the word of a random person, credentials and expertise unknown, because “it was on TikTok”. It wasn’t just my class, either - the more Year 11 students I spoke to, the more I realised just how widespread the issue was.
I needed to understand more. Off to TikTok I went, ruining my own carefully honed algorithm in the process.
Having typed “English GCSE revision” into the search bar, the first video that popped up had 125.7K likes and goodness knows how many views. I heard that dreaded word just a few seconds in: “prediction”. The person in the video confidently and assuredly stated that the Macbeth exam question would be about…Macbeth. Earth shattering news to anyone.
“The scale of the problem is truly alarming”
The second video had 50.6K likes. It was entitled “grade 9 waffle. But grade 9 waffle gets you a grade 9”. The video was indeed waffle - something that, year after year, exam boards address directly in their examiners’ report as an absolute no-go.
A few videos later, I’d stumbled into science GCSE TikTok, with accounts posting supposed “leaks” of the 2025 biology GCSE papers, with the aim of guiding students’ revision towards specific topics.
There were many more such videos, and the astronomical amount of exposure they were getting should be a stark warning to anyone working with students taking exams. While some videos may come from reliable sources - qualified teachers, for example - many others are rife with poor advice and inaccurate content.
Taking to X, formally known as Twitter, I posted about my concerns and was inundated with responses from teachers across the country. While it was mildly reassuring to know that it wasn’t just an issue at my school, the scale of the problem is truly alarming.
What I found most distressing was the realisation that there was money involved. There are accounts posting “predicted papers” and offering tuition for the specific topics covered in them, often at astronomical hourly rates. I saw one company offering tuition at £65 an hour.
There’s also the possibility that creators could be making money purely from the number of views their videos are receiving. rewards “eligible creators” for “high-quality, original content” that is “equal to or longer than one minute”, with rewards being calculated based on the number of views a video receives.
It’s worth pointing out that TikTok specifies eligibility criteria for this, including that videos must not contain advertisements, “disinformation” or “misleading information”, but the potential to make money from generating views exists on the platform, all the same.
And if online videos are encouraging young people to part with their money, as well as potentially undermining their chances of exam success, then that’s certainly something to worry about.
But what, if anything, can teachers do to counteract this growing trend?
Combatting exam misinformation online
Address it openly with students
Show students some of the videos that are available and take the time to explain why the information in them is wrong. Expose the flaws and inaccuracies, in the hope that students can develop some critical thinking skills around this issue.
Find out what your students are looking at online
Make sure you ask students what online materials they might be using to support their revision in your subject. I was, admittedly, very naive about this until recently. If you don’t know about it, you certainly can’t do anything to change the situation.
Direct students to reliable resources
Be specific with students about what good sources of online support are. Show them examples, and discuss how to incorporate them into their revision.
It’s clear from the scale of engagement on social media platforms that young people are crying out for extra support. It’s great that they’re trying to source additional materials, but we need to make sure they’re accessing the right ones.
Amy Forrester is an English teacher and director of behaviour and futures at Cockermouth School in Cumbria
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