'The fiasco of the GCSE and A Level exam results must never be repeated'

Ronan Keating once wisely crooned that ‘life is a rollercoaster, you’ve just got to ride it’.

Personally, I’m not a fan of so-called ‘thrill’ rides – in my case they’re more like ‘scared witless rather than actually enjoying it rides’ – so my experience of real-life rollercoasters is somewhat limited.

However, when I was much younger and braver, I did venture on to the Corkscrew at Alton Towers when a hailstorm started.

That was pretty terrifying, as I was spun upside down and round and round while being pelted in the face with sharp pieces of ice.

The obligatory photo taken - sadly now lost - clearly illustrated the sheer terror on my face.

But not even this compares to the metaphorical rollercoasters I have been on this year.

My mother having an accident – and a subsequent operation – was beyond anyone’s control, as was my father’s death, I accept that.

They are/were in their mid-80s, so you do have to start preparing for things to happen.

The coronavirus pandemic was completely out of left field though.

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that swept in almost out of nowhere and changed our lives beyond recognition. I’ve lost my main writing job, but I’m hopeful that something will turn up.

My husband is a key worker and has had to work throughout.

Unbelievably though, one of the most stressful events of this year was the exams fiasco and its fall-out.

I appreciate that given what else has occurred, that may sound slightly ridiculous, but as I’m sure most parents of teenagers know, the exam results period is stressful enough without the added pressure of constant changing of Government policy, and children appearing to be treated differently depending on where they happen to live in the UK.

What an utter shambles. How was this computer algorithm designed, and why did it appear to reduce the grades of mainly state school pupils?

It sounded like some sort of bad joke, except this was serious because this is our kids’ futures being decided by ‘computer says no’.

I’m hoping that any

injustices have now been resolved, but please, lessons must be learned so this fiasco is never repeated.