I love a good spreadsheet. Charts, tables, numbers, formulas, you name it. But there is one set of data that I have always hated: exam grades. It is not just the way they are calculated, and the examination process, but what they seem to symbolise, too. The idea that good grades are the only way to measure success. I have written before that my exam grades are not very strong - my highest GCSE grade was a 6 in English language. Yet, here I am writing my Tes column. I got a grade 5 in computer science, yet I spent lockdown forming APE Technology Solutions - a VAT-registered limited company, providing digital strategy solutions.

Some people - employers, universities, adults and my peers - seem to set a correlation between exam grades and how much potential you have. Some application processes prevent you from applying if you can’t tick a box, even before they have had a conversation with you. Don’t get me wrong: achieving top grades is an achievement that I absolutely congratulate you for, It is tough to do, and it is very impressive that you’ve achieved it; you will have worked hard to do so, no doubt.

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GCSE resit results: Grade 4s up in English and maths

Defining success

Everyone measures success in different ways, and showcases their potential differently. Whereas my classmate Logan’s goal was to get a grade 7 in everything, my goal was to be well enough to sit every exam. I achieved that goal, and managed to pass everything in the process - so I felt like I was on cloud nine, even if I couldn’t be, because I sat the foundation tier wherever possible. For my photography friend, Jane, what’s more important: whether she has a certain number of qualifications, or that she has an outstanding portfolio and knowledge of her skill? That’s the role of vocational education: building and learning the skills needed for a vocation.

Whereas grades motivate students like Logan to plough on to get an even higher grade, seeing progress charts marked as “below average” or “requiring improvement” can be really damaging to students like Jane and me. It makes us feel like we’re failing at being people, when we’re not. 

It’s just that we’ve not worked out how to solve quadratic equations in maths yet. And with the coronavirus situation increasing the likelihood of vulnerable learners falling out of the education system, now is the time to make sure we are as welcoming and recognising of the variety of successes in the classroom as possible, I plead.

With students like Logan, who seem to naturally get “good” grades, it would be easy for us to be complacent in thinking that everything will always be okay for them. But Logan puts himself under so much pressure to get the grades he thinks he needs to be classed a success that he ends up completely removing himself from his friendship circle and becoming a recluse with the sole goal of exam success. There is potential for Logan’s teachers to not notice, though, because the spreadsheet shows that he’s getting good grades and he’s well behaved in lessons. So who is looking out for him?

I took this situation to EduTwitter, to find out what teachers would do to try and identify this, and how they would try and stop it. There were suggestions of encouraging new hobbies and “talking it through”, and also limiting set homework - but as one assistant head pointed out, students like Logan use independent work to help their mental wellbeing, so if not managed carefully, could have a detrimental effect. When it came to spotting signs of overworking in students, teachers pointed to signs of anxiety and unease; subtle changes of habit.

I retrospectively applied this to myself, because I know that at times I could easily be described as the “overworking student” - admittedly because of extracurricular, rather than curricular, activities. Friends are often the first to notice as it takes me longer to reply to messages, I may not want to meet up with them as often, or I work during my lunch breaks. Then, mentors and my tutor would pick up on subtle changes - things that, even now looking back at Year 11, I didn’t notice in myself. Walking down the corridor more quickly, speaking more quickly; seemingly small things that can become part of a larger problem. All because I was hung-up on getting success, and because Logan is desperate to get no less than a grade eight.

So, as we start the new school year, let’s think and reflect: what does success actually mean?

Alfie Payne is a media student from Hampshire