There's a special kind of stress reserved for results day. It doesn't matter how many years you've done this (and trust me, I've done a few), the night before still involves lying awake doing mental arithmetic you have no business doing at 2am, wondering if you remembered every single student's predicted grade correctly, and generally behaving like a man awaiting a jury verdict rather than a set of exam results that, statistically, are mostly out of my hands at this point.
It never gets easier. I don't think it's supposed to. Every single year I want every single student to do the very best they possibly can, and every single year that means results day arrives with the same knot in the stomach it did the first time. If it ever stops feeling like that, it's probably time to find a new job.
But here's the thing I try to remind students (and myself) every year: results are not the be-all and end-all. There is a pathway for everyone. A grade on a piece of paper in August tells you where you got to on one particular set of exams, it doesn't tell you where you're going. Whatever the results say, there's a route forward, and part of my job is making sure students know that before they even open the envelope.
This cohort made that job a lot easier, if I'm honest. The relationships we built with this group over the last couple of years were genuinely something special, and I think that's a huge part of why the results turned out the way they did. When students trust you, and you trust them, they take more risks, ask more questions, and put in the graft even when it's not glamorous. And the icing on the cake this year was that every single one of them got into their university of choice. Every one. That's the bit that actually gets me a bit emotional, more than any grade boundary ever could.
Right, enough of the sentimental bit. Let's talk numbers, because this year's numbers are genuinely worth shouting about.
A Level Computer Science
This year's A Level cohort came in with a slightly lower ability intake than we're used to, on paper anyway, not the "easy" group. They responded by achieving an average grade of B-, with a +0.2 value added score, which for the uninitiated basically means they outperformed what the numbers said they "should" do. That's the bit that makes me happiest, not the grade itself, but the gap between where they started and where they finished.
The coursework (NEA) results were where they really showed off. An average of 56 out of 70, with a good number of students smashing past 65, and one absolute unit landing a 70 out of 70. Full marks. I have checked, double-checked, and accepted that yes, that is actually possible, and yes, a Year 13 did it.
GCSE Computer Science
If A Level was a strong performance, GCSE was a standing ovation. A Strand Progress Indicator (SPI) of 1.06, comfortably positive, meaning students significantly outperformed their starting points. An average grade of 7. Half the cohort, 50%, walked away with a grade 9-7. And 95% achieved a 9-4.
I'll be honest, I read that second figure back a couple of times before I let myself believe it.
The Actual Point
None of this happens by accident, and none of it happens without the students themselves putting in the work. I just supply the mild caffeine addiction and the mild panic. But results like these are also exactly why I keep saying the same thing every year: work hard, take it seriously, and trust the process, but don't let a grade define you. These students didn't just hit numbers, they exceeded what was expected of them, and they did it as a group who genuinely looked out for one another. That's the real headline, whatever the grade boundaries say.
Congratulations to every single one of them. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and lie down for the rest of the summer.