A 16-YEAR-OLD Sheldon School pupil has said his frustrations with the education system have only been worsened after a letter to an MP went unanswered.

Ben Tedds, who lives in Yatton Keynell, sent the letter expressing his concerns about the pressures teenagers face in the ever-changing world of education and exams in December to Michelle Donelan, but as he is not a constituent of hers, he will not receive a reply.

“My frustrations were catalysed by the problems with the GCSE computer science test because the government didn’t think the distribution of the national examination papers through and the information ended up on the internet and now that paper is worth nothing,” the 16-year-old said.

“With that I thought enough is enough and emailed Michelle and I talked a lot about problems with the current education system and the change of creative subjects like music and drama to more academic processes.”

Ben’s letter, which discusses exams, expectations, and underfunding, has been well supported by his peers and teachers – with some of his classmates even approaching Ms Donelan’s assistant about a response during a visit to the House of Commons.

“Some of my class went to the Houses of Parliament and spoke to one of Michelle’s assistants and they claimed they were not able to find the letter,” Ben said.

“It makes me feel like I’m not here and I am someone that doesn’t exist in the eyes of an MP, which is not what they are there for. Our voices are not being heard.”

Neil Spurdell, headteacher at Sheldon, said: “We were extremely annoyed to be told more than halfway through the GCSE computer science course that the coursework element would no longer be required, particularly when the students had already spent so much time working on it. With increased curriculum content, this is time that they cannot afford to lose. Sadly, this is not the first time the goalposts have changed with GCSE courses in recent years and it is totally unacceptable. As a staff, we have many frustrations with a number of aspects of the new GCSE curriculum and, like teachers up and down the country, are doing everything we can to make it manageable for the students.

“However, I am delighted that Ben has taken a stand and written to our MP, Michelle Donelan, so that she can see the effect it is having on our young people.

“I hope that when time permits in her diary, she will meet with him to discuss in greater detail the issues Ben has raised on behalf of all students in England.”

Michelle Donelan’s office noted that due to parliamentary protocol, Ben’s letter must be dealt with by his local MP James Gray.

Her assistant, who flagged the issue with Ben’s postcode with the teen, has since forwarded the letter on to Mr Gray, who will deal with it in due course.