Today, hundreds of thousands of students will open envelopes containing their A-level results and be disappointed by what they find inside. Indeed, because of grade deflation, up to 50,000 students will miss out on the A and A* grades that they would have received last year.
A decade ago, I was that student feeling disheartened by their results. Having received lower grades than predicted, and consequently losing my place at my choice of university, I was faced with navigating the “clearing process”, a negotiation with universities that still have places left on courses – and a daunting task for an extremely shy 18-year-old. I can still feel the anxiety of calling various institutions to see if they would accept me. Over that interminable summer, I scrambled desperately to find a place, and felt let down that my school did nothing to help assuage the feeing of panic that was rising within me.
