Relief at results U-turn ... Diary of a Corona Kid (Exams Special)

I haven’t woken up at 5.40am for a very long time.
Students have been receiving their exams results this monthStudents have been receiving their exams results this month
Students have been receiving their exams results this month

But, on August 20, I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for GCSE Results Day.

I’ll be honest, I had not enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

No matter how many times I listed ‘Neighbours’ TV characters from A-Z, I simply could not escape the menagerie of butterflies in my stomach.

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Previously, I had decided that I hated algorithms. ‘Algorithm’ is a horrible word. It’s the sort of word that mansplainers choose because it is a bit complicated and no one knows enough about it to contradict you.

My hatred began on August 13.

A-Level students had to endure stupidly low grades, just because a computer decided they didn’t fit the criteria that their teachers had given them.

Eamonn Holmes told Gavin Williamson that this was wrong and I happen to agree with him.

Teachers are smart and not only in a subject-specific sense.

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They have a strange sort of wisdom that is probably going to be a lot better at deciding grades than a computer. Which is why I’m glad there was a U-Turn.

It did take three days to do though, which is probably the time it took Boris to pack his tent away in Scotland and for Dominic Cummings to take an eye test (he’d have to allow for the stay in Durham and the queues at Barnard Castle after all).

All in all, my results were quite good, and it was lovely to see my friends and a few of my teachers for the first time in five months.

My headteacher gave us some good advice about this year as well, which I will carry with me.

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He said that these were the grades that we had earned and that we thoroughly deserved them.

Sadly, some might think that we had it easy... no exams, just some Mystic Meg predictions from our teachers.

I can say that from my experience, these people are wrong.

Our teachers gave us realistic grades, based on our work over the past two years. They have seen us at our best and at our worst, so know exactly what we are capable of.

So thank you, Mr Williamson, for eventually respecting their professional judgement and having the guts to admit that you were wrong.

You are cutting us a bit of slack, because it’s safe to say that 2020 hasn’t been easy for anyone.