Just How Important Are A-Level Results?

Across the UK today thousands of Teenagers will receive their A-Level results. This is the culmination of years of hard work within a school environment. I do of course wish all those Teens the best of luck with their results, but today I'm asking, "Just how important are A-Level Results?

With my eldest son, now nearly 13 years old when I look ahead to the future, I won't lie, I hope he does very well in his academic career, after all it's what, we parents dream of isn't it? Our bright children going on to achieve great things, when they leave school with a plethora of A*'s in their exams, we can give ourselves a pat on the back and congratulate them and ourselves on a job well done.

Today though, I find myself asking just how important these exams actually are. I guess if your child wants to be Doctor, Lawyer or any other profession where a specific degree is essential then, yes, excellent A Level results are vital.

They are of course a child's pass to University. If a child feels that University is an essential step to their chosen career, once again these results are very important indeed.

However I think it's fair to say that many, many kids have no idea what they want to do with their lives beyond the long summer holiday ahead. Most don't have a calling.

Do Kids need to go on to University to make a success for their lives? Perhaps not.

I'm not here to tell anyone what to do if they don't get the results they are hoping for today, there is plenty of that advice available from Schools, Universities and the Internet.

Instead I'm going to tell you a tale of 4 boys all born in 1974, all in the same cul-de-sac, all all 4 went to the same state schools. To this day they are still the best of friends.

None of these 4 boys shone at school.

The first child, who I will call Matthew, struggled through Primary school, needed extra English lessons, somehow he managed to find his way to decent A-Level results and a place at University, studying Engineering, he decided, not long after finishing his degree that Engineering wasn't really his thing, he wanted to be a Pilot. This boy finally found his calling some years after his A-Levels were over, he went on to become a Pilot and is now a Captain for one of the World's best know long haul airlines. This is a tale of success from finding your passion.

Boy number 2, I will call Liam, he did alright through school, also went onto University, left Uni and got a job with a small company, he stayed loyal to this company and when the owner retired, he was made director and is now the owner of this company. This is a tale of success from loyalty.

Boys number 3 & 4, I will call Alex and Damian, neither of them did their A-Levels, they left school after GCSE's, Alex got a job with a local company and Damian became an apprentice Mechanic. When the company that Alex worked for made him redundant he decided to set up his own company, he now runs a successful company, earning an eye watering salary.

As for Damian, he worked for many years for the same MOT Centre, he built for himself an excellent reputation, when the Garage closed, as the owners retired, he also decided to set up his own Garage, that has gone from strength to strength, and whilst his Spelling is still pretty awful, he earns a fantastic wage that most Graduates hope to earn in the future. This is a tale of determination, hard work, loyalty and good old fashioned ambition.

4 boys, all with the same back ground, different career paths, and different education after GCSE's, but all 4 of them are massive success stories. Perhaps what we need to be teaching our Kids isn't how to pass exams, but teach them determination, loyalty, to have a strong work ethic and a healthy dose of ambition. I'm sure you'll agree these characteristics make for a lethal but successful cocktail.

So what do you think, just how important are A-Level results? Why not leave your opinions in my comments section below.