'If anyone dares to tell you that GCSE and A Level students had it easy this year....look them in the eye and tell them they're wrong'

When this column appears, my daughter and her friends – and Caitlin who wrote her weekly ‘Diary Of A Corona Kid’ during lockdown – along with all their contemporaries, will be in possession of their GCSE exam results.

But for these 16-year-olds, it has been a time like no other. Lockdown meant an abrupt finish to their school year; the usual rites of passage either a diluted version or sadly absent altogether.

Then their exams were cancelled.

I’ve heard it described as training for a marathon, lining up at the start, and then being told that the race is not being run. All that preparation just gone.

They’ve been reassured that they will be fairly treated, as the global pandemic and its fallout was unforeseen and obviously not their fault.

I genuinely feel so sorry for these kids, and the A-level students, because they don’t need this pressure and stress, wondering how their grades will be calculated and will they actually get what they deserve.

But I also want to tell them ‘please don’t worry’. Exams, while important, are not the be all and end all. You will be OK.

Think of exams as stepping stones, a route to where you are headed, but not the ultimate destination. Routes can be varied and changed.

Life is always going to be challenging, but it’s how you deal with it that is the key. Resilience, adapting to change and soldiering on in the face of adversity is what will get you through, along with sheer bloomin’ hard work, of course!

That’s what you have already done.

If anyone dares to say you had it easy, feel free to look them in the eye and say “no, we didn’t, we had it different. We worked hard, we adapted. The grades we were awarded were the ones we earned. We had to stay at home, to protect the NHS, and save lives. Now let us show you what else we can do.”

Class of 2020, be proud. It’s been a tough year for everyone, but you’ve got through it. You are all stars, now go out there and shine!