A-Level critics will be ignored

After the torrid year that this year’s intake has endured, they deserve all that they can get.

Having suffered from lockdown, having come to terms with remote learning and having faced social alienation and a lack of peer support, the class of 2021 deserves enormous congratulations.

There must be a year that does better than others. Perhaps it’s the class of 2021, perhaps it’s not. It does not really matter. What is important is that youngsters have worked hard and flourished. They have given themselves the opportunity to go on and have good careers or secure university places that will provide a platform for gainful employment.

Nobody should undermine the achievements of students who have worked so hard in incredibly difficult circumstances. We should congratulate those who have received their results and also thank the teachers who have managed to complete courses in the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

The high exam scores should also not impede next year’s students who are likely to take exams rather than be judged on coursework, and whose results are likely to dip when compared to this year’s cohort.

It is important that the next year of education should be normalised. That means encouraging young people to get the vaccine and the return of face-to-face university lectures. It is absurd that students can go to pubs and nightclubs but not attend lectures in person. Gavin Williamson is right to demand that universities get back.