Exam Results Day

Today, my furlough day has been taken up with ferrying my daughter to school to pick up her A level results. Like many of her age, the last few months have seen their lives completely turned upside down by the closing of schools and cancelling of exams. This was the culmination of many years in the school system which finally finished today, with the handing out of an envelope.

Over the last couple of weeks, the forthcoming exam results have been prominent in the news, with the marking down of grades. Despite teachers accessment of their students, this proposed changing of grades meant many young people went into school this morning fearing the worst. Uncertainty about grades and university courses overlaid with the marking down of grades has not been great for this year's Y13 students.

Since March, the students have had to deal with online lessons, cancellation of lessons, working at home, not working at home, no exams, general uncertainty about their future. All this at a time when they should be concentrating on revision, preparing for their final exams and celebrating the end of their school lives. I understand that preventing the spread of COVID-19 is paramount, and my daughter, like many others, has been at home throughout lockdown. But cast your mind back to your teenage years...when you were at school, this was your world.

But all credit to teachers and schools, this has not been an easy time for them either. We have never been in this situation before and hopefully won't be again. These students will always be labelled the 'Coronavirus year' for the rest of their lives. What we need to remember is that they had their school lives curtailed abruptly, and have had to cope accordingly. We need to cut them some slack and support them going forward. Because this year, these young people have had to learn the hard way that sometimes things don't go to plan, the situation can be taken out of your hands and you need to deal with it the best you can. 

Good luck to them all. Hopefully, the uncertainty and difficult times are now behind them. Time to look to the future.



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