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The lessons I’ve learnt from results day

What is often most interesting are the trends behind the headlines

Eleanor Busby
Monday 19 August 2019 00:04 BST
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Photos of students with brown envelopes jumping for joy fill the papers, while success stories from celebrities about grades not being the be-all-and-end-all flood Twitter. It must be results day.

For a few weeks in August the country (and media) gets excited about A-level and GCSE results. What has become known as “silly season” soon becomes very busy as an education correspondent.

Every year the headlines will focus on whether there’s been a drop or rise in the number of top grades being awarded to pupils – but the figures only move by a fraction of a percentage point.

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