On exam results: don't lose heart ...

Don’t lose heart …This is what I keep thinking to myself and saying to my son, who awaits his GCSEs results announced tomorrow, and what I want to say to many young people in the same boat and also to their parents.?

The truth is, while some will do well, there will be many disappointments, dreams and aspirations would feel broken. Firstly, there is the predicted post-Covid grade deflation. That aside, of those who do not quite hit the required percentile, there will be many, who have every reason why they did not: neuro-diverse kids (I am a parent to two), kids who did not receive 1-2-1 tutoring, come from underprivileged backgrounds, those young for their year who never caught up and those who just simply didn’t gel with the education system, as it stands.

Education should awaken curiosity, instead, as a cliché has it, it teaches how to pass exams and, by many accounts, is unengaging. As Malcolm Gladwell outlined in Outliers, which I read when studying for my MBA a few years back, sometimes education system stacks to your advantage, if your month of birth is right, if you had a sure start, but for many it is and feels like a struggle.?Fascinating subjects are reduced to robotically memorising dates, names, formulas and keywords. Enter Chat GPT, taking on rote learning. My son up until recently wanted to be a biologist and could recite every reptilian fact there is. Post GCSE biology he is not that sure. Natural curiosity squeezed out by revision cards.

And how realistic is it that at the age of 14 (when kids start their GCSEs) they need to have an idea of what they want to do in 10-years time! And then in 2 years, when 16 years old select their A-levels they need to be pretty sure. What life insights could you have at that age to have that certainty.

There is, of course, a realisation that the system is not working for many. There are calls to scrap GCSEs (such an intensive testing at 16 is out of sync with many systems) and A-levels, as they stand, and replace them with low-stake assessments that encourage skills valued by workplace and in life – critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaborative problem solving. Similarly, Worldwide Educating for the Future Skills Index (by the Economist Intelligence Unit) evaluates the key skills that young people need to navigate in the future. The skills are: interdisciplinary, creative and analytical skills, entrepreneurial skill, leadership, digital & technical skills and global awareness & civic education. Many teachers and students agree that as a rule you don’t learn them at school. So let us hope these calls gain traction.

Big hope is that education, as we know it, is actually already the thing of the past. That change is what we stand for at?MyPocketSkill?and technology has a big role to play. Our approach for the thousands of young people on our platform is experiential, learning by doing, where many of those essential skills are tested and formed.

However, as many new pathways are opening up (for example, we are one of the key partners on delivering T-levels, a new, more practical qualification) much more needs to be done. That change is needed for the benefit of individuals and of the economy.

Most importantly though, it is needed so that the exam day is not the day when many feel they become defined by a piece of paper with set of letters, a ticket for professions that likely soon will not exist. Indeed, the world is full of stories of non-linear paths to success. Let us all recognise it and change the system accordingly.