It's exam results season!

𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺.

Then it hit me. First year without exam results hanging over our heads!

So firstly, GOOD LUCK to everyone getting A-level results tomorrow and GCSE results next week.

I remember the stomach-churning wait. The life-or-death feeling of it all.

But here's the thing (and don't tell my sons I said this): in many respects, it doesn't really matter. There are so many ways to build a life/career.

Let me tell you about my father.

He grew up in a Yorkshire mining village and left school at 16, without doing any A-levels. Higher education wasn’t for him. His only goal was to not go down the mines and he got a job as an apprentice in a technical drawing office.

One of his supervisors obviously saw something in him and suggested he apply to go to University. Which my father did, getting a place on a Mechanical Engineering degree. But with the proviso that he had to sit A-levels in his first year. He struggled a bit, and actually failed one, but passed on a re-sit.

He completed his Undergraduate degree.

He went on to get a PhD.

And, after a brief stint in industry, he went into academia, becoming a researcher & lecturer in Fluid Dynamics.

He travelled the world, published many books and became a renowned expert.

That 16-year old who opted out of higher-education? Retired as a Professor.

You see your exam results this month are not your destiny. They're just today's weather.