Leave those kids alone !!

This week's publication of A Level results, as usual, will provoke attacks on the quality of education and accusations of lower academic standards in British schools.

In recent years rising A Level pass rates have been viewed as evidence of lower standards rather than as a testament to the dedication of students and teachers. My experience in the classrooms of Regent College is that students are struggling with greater parental pressure to gain high grades as well as greater competition from others students, both in Britain and abroad. There has been a significant increase in recent years in the number of overseas applicants for British universities. Therefore, British students are competing against able students from the rest of the world for places in British universities.

More students are gaining high grades in their A Level examinations because the need for A and B grades is now so much greater. University provision has expanded, but the pressure for students now is to gain access to the more prestigious universities. The goalposts have moved, but the pressure to gain access to university remains. There is no need for the media to intensify this week's trauma and belittle their efforts by telling A Level students that their qualifications lack value. Leave those kids alone !!

Our mission – The end of education is character.