9 ‘A’s and 1 ‘A*’

I got stopped by a young lady from Radio Oxford. She told me they were doing a segment on GCSE results where they asked people how their own results eventually shaped their lives and careers.

I told her my story, and how young people should find something they love and work hard at it, rather than worry too much whether they got the grade.

It occurred to me that exams like that are designed to measure how well you’ve been taught something. (I didn’t say this). I think now that as well as being important for our future, our teachers poured pressure on us because the real pressure might well have been on them - poor results reflect badly. GCSEs particularly are used to calculate the quality of the school.

What a system. It’s complex because it really is a dance between what’s been taught and what’s been learned, but in the middle of it all, back in 1994, I don’t think I could really see that.

So tomorrow, the same kid who wanted to base his whole identity on being the smartest person in the class will be on BBC Radio Oxford telling thousands of people that it didn’t matter.

“How has it shaped you as a person?” asked the researcher. Molly, her name was. I smiled at that. It’s quite hard to summarise all that life that’s happened in three decades. In my heart I know the answer is that I had so much kindness still to learn, and so much confidence still to find. That journey is, Molly, what you might call a work in progress still.