Trials and tribulations: The stories of Year 12 students amid COVID

After a long and challenging two years, Year 12 students are heading into the final few months of their schooling. Those in Sydney and Melbourne have spent a significant proportion studying from home; for Melbourne’s students, in particular, this was a repeat of their Year 11 experience through the lockdowns of 2020.

Year 12 is challenging at the best of times, with students often experiencing anxiety and uncertainty about their future, along with the pressures of study and achievement in the high-stakes assessment activities of the year.

This final year of secondary schooling is also traditionally filled with celebration and social events. Commemorations of completion and achievement such as graduation balls and valedictory dinners are valued milestones symbolising transitions.

Read more: After the 2020 lessons of COVID-19, should we do Year 12 differently?

The year is usually particularly social and relational, with many students bonding over the shared experiences of the year, from the fun of camps and sporting events, to the slog of nights completing assessment tasks and studying for exams.

These experiences have all been disrupted by social distancing measures, and particularly lockdown, over the past two academic years. Anyone with connections to students in these years will know how hard these young people have had it. Students’ attempts to support each other and discuss their circumstances are happening through social media channels, as they’re confined to their homes.

The struggle for motivation and connection

In a research project last year, we heard from 241 Year 12 students from across the country. The majority were from Victoria and New South Wales, where disruptions to their learning as a result of restrictions were most acute.

Almost all the students reported that the time of learning from home was challenging, most commonly in terms of staying motivated and connected.

“I sat at my desk almost all day every day, but for a few hours each week I sat on a picnic blanket in my backyard. I did this whenever I found myself being unproductive and stir-crazy from being at the same desk all day.”

When asked to share any positives about the experience, the most common responses referred to easier logistical arrangements, such as not having to travel to school, and they valued the extra time this afforded them.

Our further analysis of the responses suggested three key themes that provide insight to understanding how this time disrupted and challenged Year 12 experiences.

Learning and achievement anxieties were heightened by the uncertainty

Year 12 is usually dominated by references to study, exams, scores and pathways, and this remained the case for last year’s students.

The participants told us they had heavy workloads and were dealing with these, while they didn’t know what would happen for exam schedules and how their ATARs would be calculated.

This uncertainty exacerbated anxieties both in terms of managing time and efforts in line with assessment schedules that were no longer fixed, and in terms of concern about the impact that disruption would have on their “score” and on their post-school options.

“I’m unsure if COVID has affected how well I will perform in my end-of-year exams.”

“My greatest worry is how this will impact my ATAR and my learning beyond high school. Definitely my biggest stress comes from the fact of whether I will be able to get into the course that I desire in uni.”

Cancellations of celebrations and milestones detracted from the significance of the year, and impacted learning motivation

Year 12 is a time of social significance, with a range of formal and informal activities and special events that signify the achievement of completing school. The students from our study were disappointed about missing events that commemorate their schooling achievements and transitions to post-school life, and noted how the removal of the social experiences detracted from their motivation to study.

Read more: Young people, the pandemic, and the shifting post-school transitions to employment

“I feel like the lack of having things/events to look forward to and ‘bookmark’ weeks is getting very tiring and makes me feel demotivated to get large amounts of work done at one time. It feels like every day just bleeds into one, with weeks and weeks just going on and on with zero breaks or reprieve. With events like formals and valedictory events cancelled or being moulded to fit social distancing, it feels like we’re missing out on important things that other year groups got to experience.”

“For a lot of us, it felt like all the fun things that make your final year so special had been taken away, and it made some lose motivation and feel like all school was, was classes.”

These events provide a rhythm to the year and can balance the intensity of a focus on academic achievement. They provide important opportunities for students to connect and enjoy this important transitional year.

Relationships with teachers and classmates were diminished and narrowed

In both remote learning and also when at school but subject to social distancing arrangements, participants noticed damage to their relationships.

The students acknowledged the incredible work of their teachers, and the support they received was appreciated, but they found that accessing support for their learning needed to be more intentional, and took greater effort to initiate – for example, sending an email with a question, or taking up time in an online class.

“It is very difficult to comprehend and solidify my understanding of concepts, especially learning new topics, as there is a lack of engagement with teachers.”

The participants also missed general camaraderie with classmates, and they noted their range of social relationships narrowed, as from home they communicated with more select groups of friends and peers than they would at school, often through social channels outside of the school arrangements (for example, Snapchat and Discord).

“The hardest part is overall learning, and the inability to communicate and engage with classmates and teachers during online learning.”

Incidental opportunities to connect were missed for the social opportunities, but also as mental breaks that balance intensity of learning and study at this time.

“The hardest part of these typical school days was finding the motivation to continue, because small rewards such as recess and lunch to catch up with friends in person had been removed.”

As the term “social distance” implies, a disconnection was evident that impacted the students in profound and often damaging ways.

“I found that I was rather unmotivated, and absolutely hated not being in a learning environment with other people, as all the enjoyment was drained from the experience.”

Beyond the challenges of motivation for learning, some of our participants also shared how this time was detrimental to their own, and their friends’, mental health and wellbeing. These stories were harrowing, and add to the significant evidence that many young people have been impacted in these ways.

These stories from students about how they managed a year like no other provided insight into the importance of balance, connection and enjoyment for this significant, high-stakes final year of schooling.

This article is a summary of a recently published paper with co-authors Dr Sally Windsor and Dr Ingrid Henning-Loeb, from University of Gothenburg, Sweden.