1st Class Honours in Shelf Stacking.

There have been many articles published since A level results day that I can sympathise with. Yes, students do spend hour after hour learning about good exam technique. No, they do not require full knowledge of a subject to pass an exam on it. Is that the fault of the lecturers whose targets require them to tirelessly improve their exam results? Is it the fault of students who have a huge desire to learn, but an even bigger desire to go to University? I don't think so.

If you want Students to receive a cathartic experience of Education, where they become knowledgeable, confident and successful, maybe some of the values we hold about education need to be brought up to date. Not all students have a knack for exams. Fact. Coaching students in exam technique in order to increase their chances of success doesn't make them knowledgeable. Fact. Vocational courses and apprenticeships allow students who don't have excellent exam technique to have value placed on their knowledge of a subject. Fact. If more students were encouraged to take a vocational route to qualification, students who do achieve well in exams will be able to learn, understand and flourish.

It wasn’t until I had completed my A levels (with little to show for them) that I discovered the true amount of quality vocational education available to students; that a vocational course CAN get you in to University, as well as giving you the tools to walk straight into a workplace; that A levels aren’t the only option.

Maybe it’s time our entire country stopped denigrating the value of vocational qualifications and worshipping A levels as the benchmark for success. Now graduates are working for minimum wage throughout the country, I want to laugh in the face of the lecturer that told me “If you do a vocational course now, you’ll still be stacking shelves in Tesco when you’re 30”.