The Shadowed Problems of Hell Term

By: Hanseol Kang

The first term of Grade 12 is also called ‘Hell Term’, which has earned its name from the overwhelming amount of stress students feel from the heightened workload, which creates a hellish period to go through. To specify, Grade 12 students are expected to complete their university applications (where some applicants need to write additional supplemental essays) whilst also having to manage demanding academic tasks. This includes completing the final versions of their internal assessments, extended essays, TOK essays, and assignments and assessments from all six subjects to top it all off.

But what makes this term particularly difficult to go through isn’t the sheer magnitude of work students are expected to do; it’s the lesser-known, subtle parts of the term that aren’t discussed but account for large amounts of stress.

Flaws of Approaches: Coursework Calendar and Teachers

Coursework calendars are one of the methods devised by the school to lessen the weight of the academic aspect of Hell Term. It’s a calendar where all the important submission deadlines are specified, and assessment weeks of different subject groups are shown. For students, the calendar is a valuable tool to keep track of all the important dates and prepare for assessments in particular subjects. For teachers, the calendar is essential for picking a reasonable date for a test while being mindful of all the important deadlines that students need to go through.

In theory, the coursework calendar should be a perfect tool that can be used to lessen the stress of Grade 12 students by sorting important deadlines and dates in an organised, spaced-out manner. But this is not the case. There are problems with the calendar, but it doesn’t reside with the calendar itself; it’s in how it is applied.

First, the flawed assessment schedules. Assessment weeks, in which teachers are allowed to schedule assessments, are sorted by subject groups. In other words, during the two weeks where groups 1, 4, and 6 (Language A, Sciences and Art) are permitted assessments to be scheduled, groups 2, 3, and 5 (Language B, Humanities and Mathematics) are not.

The IB permits students to take two subjects from one group so that students can choose two sciences, two humanities and so on. This leads to multiple instances where students have two tests stacked on each other and three if they’re unlucky. Not only is this stressful, but it also creates a small, uneven window of time to study, leading to decreased performance. This is particularly important for Grade 12s, as data points are crucial for predicted grades and university admissions. You may also see a simple solution: discuss it with the teacher and try to reschedule. Yes, it is a valid solution, but still has two problems. The first is that two weeks is a small window of time, and how much you can reschedule can be limited, especially if your class hasn’t completed the content.

Second, the teachers. There is a common idea that teachers will try to accommodate the students, especially in scheduling assessments. There’s a fair reason behind it: they usually do. Some teachers will ask students about their preferences for a set date, and that’s a great thing; it promotes a healthy relationship between teachers and students. However, some teachers will enforce test dates without any discussions with the students and will not reconsider such dates. This is how unreasonable test dates are normally set. We can do nothing about it — we just have to flow along and accept our fates.

Not to mention that sometimes teachers schedule assessments on dates outside of their permitted assessment weeks. This is probably the worst nightmare for students, leading to a messy, clustered horror of assessments that coursework calendars were meant to prevent. It’s even more of a nightmare for people who take two subjects from the same group (and most of us do that) because that means extra stress for a week that’s already stressful.

The Consequences of Extensions

Another major part of Hell Term is submissions. We have our extended essays, TOK essays, and internal assessments to submit. There are many cases where students cannot submit in time due to the overwhelming amount of other things to take care of, unexpected illness, or more. Teachers are usually very understanding of this, so it’s not out of the question to request an extension as long as it’s in advance.

However, requesting extensions is normally a bad idea in the grand scheme of things. Coursework calendars space out multiple submission deadlines so they won’t peek into other dates and pile up deadlines for a disaster. When extensions take place, this completely changes. Getting an extension will mean you will have to continue working on a particular project while other things get in your way, leaving you with no time to rest. The work just keeps piling up.

The Toxic Reputation of Struggles

I believe this is the biggest part of the problem: the community. Specifically, our attitude towards struggles.

Grade 12 is the last and the most important in this school. It is the final year group that all the work ethic, strategies and habits you’ve developed from middle school to early high school have led to. A grade where everyone has grasped the nature of a high workload and strategised their solutions for it, where no problems such as lack of organisation can be tolerated.

Or, so we think.

There is a general consensus that by Grade 12, students are responsible enough to manage and control everything on their own. But as we all know, that’s not the case. There are still people who struggle, whether it be organisational, motivational, or habitual. The heightened workload of Grade 12 is especially stressful for those who weren’t prepared for this. And frankly — not a lot of us were prepared for this.

The transition to Grade 12 is a drastic change compared to the previous grades. I could safely say there were times in Grades 10 & 11 that I found stressful, but such periods were temporary, and guidance and help were available in class. But the Hell Term is different; it’s more about completing a large quantity of neverending work that students are expected to do independently, where self-organisation and stamina are crucial. Inconsistent work ethic and rushing tasks at the last minute could have worked for the previous grades, but for Grade 12, such bad habits would only lead to burnout and enormous amounts of perpetual stress. I wouldn’t exactly say that the previous grades were designed to foster essential habits that Grade 12 required you to have.

However, because of this toxic mindset, students are often held to high expectations. This consensus is not exclusive to students; it includes teachers. Students and teachers often criticise or at least hold students accountable for being unable to keep up with deadlines or standards. This can further consolidate the toxic expectations that innately reside inside students. Additionally, it’s important to acknowledge that things can spiral out of control due to the high workload this term, and it may be unfair to hold them accountable.

We also have a twisted understanding of other students. Different subjects require different skill sets, have different expectations, and have different concepts. A false idea we share is that because we are all doing the same programme, we have the same workload and the same difficulty. This is wrong. Some people might need to do more things, while others might find things difficult. This is okay, and it should be tolerated. However, such differences are not often acknowledged, and students’ struggles are often disregarded.

Such an idea that resides within us often materialises itself into ignorance, where we start to disregard or underestimate the genuine struggles that people go through. People’s struggles have more depth than they may appear, with limiting factors such as organisational skills, a toxic mindset, or insecurities stunting their performances. To some people, overcoming challenges may be more difficult than others may find. To suggest that there are easy solutions to be more organised and keep up with the demands of Hell Term that apply to all types of students is a misleading overstatement.

We share the responsibility to be mindful and understanding of the vast differences between students. It’s okay to claim that Hell Term isn’t difficult and that there are easy ways to go through it, but it’s also important to acknowledge that such experience may not apply to everyone.

Closing note

Hell Term is definitely an indispensable part of the IB. Although it could be distributed more evenly, this amount of workload is not going anywhere. But that’s not to say that the problems should stick around. I believe there are many other problems with this particular term that I haven’t included in this article. We must reflect on our experiences and spark discussions to minimise the stress in what’s already a stressful time.

Also, as we go through these stressful times and are often lost in such high expectations, we tend to neglect that it’s absolutely okay to struggle. Let’s not forget that struggles are an essential and natural part of growing up, and it’s something that should be accepted and supported by the community rather than being looked down upon. A crucial step towards making Hell Term a lot less stressful is to reflect and create a more supportive environment.