Yesterday was a day for celebrating our students as they collect their exam results. For large numbers of 18-year olds, their hard work has paid off, and they will be moving into a new and exciting phase of their lives, at university, taking up an apprenticeship, or heading into paid work. Others may need a little more support, as they deal with disappointing results and look to make different plans. While the world looks to move on from the pandemic, teachers know the impact it has had on a whole generation of students.

As a profession, we are rightly proud of the resilience that has brought them through. 

While we celebrate individual achievements, we should also step back and look at how the education system has changed. The growing narrative around the importance of STEM subjects, along with changes to accountability measures, has led to huge increases in pupils taking sciences at A level, with Maths being the most popular subject at sixth form. Sadly, this is at the expense of both the humanities and the arts, with pupils much more likely to narrow their learning at 16 and focus only on STEM subjects. If we want education to develop well-rounded citizens and for our pupils to feel inspired and enabled to make the subject choices that are right for them, we clearly need to find ways to rebuild breadth in the curriculum.

These exam results also highlight what teachers see every day – the impact of poverty, increased pupil absences, the squeeze on school resources and the difficulty of recruiting and retaining specialist teachers. The regional disparities between the North and South of England, both in exam results and in applications to university, as well as the differences between England, Wales and Northern Ireland, show how much work still needs to be done to provide the best opportunities for every young person. 

These are not issues that can be left to schools to manage. We look to the new government to build systemic solutions focused on children and young people – reducing child and family poverty, improving housing and healthcare, and increasing good jobs, while at the same time supporting schools so that they can continue to be places where pupils feel safe and want to learn and where staff are respected and want to work.

Yesterday’s exam results are a testament to the hard work, dedication and adaptability of our profession. School staff will continue to be the champions of children and young people. We look forward to working with the new government to build a society, and an education system, that enables them to flourish.