Exams Aren't The Only Way To Make The Grade In Life

‘The Left fears anyone who doesn’t get top marks is scarred for life’

- Tim Newark

Alomost half of A-level students this week have got A* or A grades, up from 38.5 per cent last year to 44.8 per cent this year. After a horrendous period of pandemic lockdowns, disrupted teaching and cancelled exams, young people deserve some good news. But the sharp rise of almost 75 per cent in top grades since regular exams were last taken in 2019 risks undermining all their hard work.

It’s a miracle that any meaningful teaching has taken place over the last year and young people should be congratulated for coping with Covid-19 panic measures, but that shouldn’t mask the problem of rampant grade inflation. Inflation of any kind devalues standards and our education system will be the real loser.

If almost half of students are getting top grades, how are universities or future employers able to distinguish the very brightest? Our country’s future wealth and enterprise depends on smart people getting accurate feedback from their exam results, not giving them an academic “hug” that distorts their true abilities.

FOR those pupils who have put tremendous effort into winning exam distinction, it undermines their achievement if all their friends are getting just the same results. Youngsters are healthily competitive and need to learn the lesson that there is no substitute for hard work resulting in top marks.