King’s Lynn GCSE students and the music that helped them through

Students across the country are opening their GCSE results. But what music did they chose as the sonic background to their studies?

Students at Springwood High School in the Norfolk town of King’s Lynn share their learning playlists.

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‘Kylie works a treat’

Piers says he “literally kept dancing” to his favourite tracks in the build-up to the exams

“I love noughties pop – I can’t stop playing it,” says Year 11 pupil Piers. “I listen to optimistic stuff – never play anything depressing when you’re revising as it literally kills your mood.

“Atomic Kitten’s always good, a bit of Kylie.”

Atomic Kitten’s song The Tide is High is his favourite, he says. “Every morning, put that on, have a little dance. Keep dancing throughout the exams – I literally had to keep dancing.”

As for Kylie? “Spinning Around, Can’t get you out of my Head – all that works a treat.

“If you’re feeling a bit stressed, just get it out with a great song.”

Did it work? What were his results like after all that pop-tastic encouragement?

“I’m happy, to say the least – they’re all above seven, so I’m very happy.”

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‘A bit of Britney’

Amelie mixed silence with some classical vibes – and a bit of Britney

“Usually I study just in silence,” says Amelie, 16. “But sometimes I’ll listen to classical music.

“It just makes me feel, like, academic.”

She’s not fussy about what it is – “just whatever comes on”.

For motivation, though, it might be “a bit of Britney Spears – Gimme More”.

With four grade nines (the highest grade), five eights and three sevens – “I’m pretty happy”, she says.

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‘Get in the zone’

Rayan has recently got into Japanese music on You Tube

Rayan’s really pleased with his results and wants to pursue further education after school.

“I did really good – my hard work really paid off,” he says. “I was a bit overwhelmed.”

His listening habits, however, were a little different to some of his peers.

“I do listen to music while I’m revising,” he says. “I just go to You Tube and listen to like, lo-fi (low fidelity) music.

“There are some things that I can relax to and [which] hopefully motivate me to study.

“There are some Japanese artists – I don’t really know their names.”

Having music on “helps me get in the zone – like when you’re not thinking about anything else and you’re just focused on the task”.

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‘Green Day gets me hyped’

Fast-paced music is what gets Robbie through his work

“I’ve been listening to a lot of Green Day lately – it just kind of gets me hyped for it,” says Robbie.

He particularly rates the US band’s albums American Idiot and Dookie.

“I’ve listened to a couple of the 30th anniversary demos that have come out and they’re quite good.”

Throw in a bit of Nimrod for good measure, and does he think it has helped with his revision?

“Yeah, I feel it does – it definitely makes me feel like, a lot more ready to go fast with it and get through it.”

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‘Can’t concentrate with music on’

Twins Amelie and Jessica have to listen to what their parents play in the house

Not everyone’s so into their music, though.

Talking about their results, twins Amelie and Jessica say: “We did good.”

Jessica’s “happy” with hers, adding: “I did better than I thought”, whereas Amelie says she “did how I thought I was going to do”.

Asked about their music habits, Jessica says: “I’ve literally not listened to music in ages and I don’t listen to it when I revise because I can’t concentrate.”

Their proud dad interrupts the pair to say he plays Oasis and Guns N’ Roses in the house.

Jessica adds: “Well I obviously have to listen to it.”

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‘Eclectic tastes’

Olly Denton, head of year 11, says his own musical taste is as eclectic as his pupils’

Their teacher, Olly Denton, who’s head of Year 11 at the school, says his pupils’ different musical tastes reflect his own “eclectic” ones.

“It’s nice to see I’ve got something in common with them,” he says.

“They say you shouldn’t listen to music when you’re revising, but… that’s what we tell the kids.”

He toes the “party line” and advises against listening to music while trying to work, and saving it for your breaks.

“Twenty minutes’ of work, five minutes’ of break and listen to a song and decompress.

“That is my revision rule,” he says, but adds that if he was revising, his “go-to… would be Razorlight”.

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The expert’s view

Dr Ming Hung Hsu, a music therapy researcher, says a lot depends on finding the “right” music for each individual

We asked Dr Ming Hung Hsu, a senior research fellow in music therapy at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, whether listening to music while trying to work is a good or bad thing.

“We know that background music has an influence on behaviour – but it depends on whether it’s the ‘right’ music for that person and whether they can block it out if they need to – or if they just end up listening to the music,” he says.

As we have seen from the pupils above, the “right” music seems to be different for everyone.

“Classical music might be able to enhance the cognitive process, whereas fast music might be more of a distraction,” says Dr Hsu.

“And it depends on the task – if we’re doing something repetitive, we’re more able to block out music – but if we’re trying to comprehend something, like a maths problem for example, it could be detrimental.”

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