ON THURSDAY, August 18, hundreds of thousands of students across the country are collecting their A-level results.
Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East, visited Reading College, Kings Road, to speak to students as they collected their grades.
Speaking at the college, he said: “I’ve spoken to one or two and I would just like to congratulate them on their hard work and their achievement because it’s been a difficult time with the pandemic.
“The first group to come through under the current marking scheme, and grading is tougher this year.
“There’s also an increase in the number of young people aged 18, which means it’s much more competition for many courses.
“So I would like to wish people luck, congratulate them on their achievements, and also to wish them the very best for the future in their careers as they move ahead.”
Mr Rodda says that while the number of students getting A-grades and A* has risen in real terms, they have fallen proportionally.
“Nationally, the proportion of young people getting As and A-stars has dropped from last year, but it’s still higher than before the pandemic.
“So all I would say to young people, who are maybe finding it challenging is to talk to your tutor at the college or your teachers at school and discuss what options that you have.”
He says that those who haven’t got the grades they were hoping for have a number of options available.
“Always talk to your school or college, and of course there’s clearing– there are some wonderful universities locally, particularly the University of Reading.”
“The trick is to speak to your tutor and ask them for their advice. If you haven’t got the results you wanted or if you even if you’ve done slightly better than you thought.
“So just take the time to do that and take everything in your stride.”
He said also that young people should be congratulated on their efforts during a particularly difficult period.
“Young people have done so well just getting here today, to get to this point, with the pandemic and all the challenges it’s posed.”
For advice about results and where to go next, students can visit: www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org
