Celebrating students deserve immense credit after surviving an educational ordeal
For teenagers who began A-level courses in September 2019, the last 18 months have been an educational ordeal. Schools in England were let down by a government that failed to develop an adequate plan B when classrooms closed. An estimated third of learning time has been lost to the pandemic. Remote lessons exposed damaging inequalities in domestic circumstances, and the quality of provision was patchy. The suspension of formal exams plunged schools into uncharted territory which was hopelessly navigated by the education secretary, Gavin Williamson.
In that dismal context, Tuesday’s outstanding set of A-level results represents an unalloyed triumph. Those in Wales and Northern Ireland were equally impressive. A cohort which has experienced a level of disruption unprecedented since the second world war has emerged with its hopes and dreams intact. A record-breaking 44.3% of entries in England were awarded A* or A in teacher-assessed grades overseen by examination boards. Almost 250,000 18-year-olds have been accepted on to degree courses in the UK, up 17% from last year. Although the country is not out of the Covid woods yet, there are legitimate grounds for these students to believe that their post-pandemic future starts here.
