Tom Richmond: Why Britain has to get results for the teenagers who don’t make the grade

It will be the same next week on GCSE day. The focus will again be on those who have exceeded their personal expectations as they prepare to graduate to the sixth form and those A-level courses that, in two years’ time, will determine whether they are university material.

I don’t concur with those who believe exams have been dumbed down by meddling ministers in the pursuit of record results each year. I took a look at an A-level geography paper a few weeks ago and was left wondering how on earth I actually managed to pass the subject.

As such, personal prejudices – jealousy, in some cases – should not distract attention from those whose exam results are a genuine source of celebration, even more so when the teenagers in question have broken the mould in their family with their academic attainment.

But the exam season’s traditional “feelgood factor” should not detract from the fact that youth unemployment is still stubbornly high – nor the difficulties now facing those young people whose education has not resulted in sufficiently good grades to progress to A-level and then on to university.

To them, the future is likely to be bleak as they begin the scramble for apprenticeships and those jobs that are available to young people with limited qualifications.

Only a minority will have the entrepreneurial skills to overcome such adversity, placing an even greater premium on the work of inspirational organisations like the Prince’s Trust, which warned this week that one in five youngsters across the North could end up on benefits as it expressed concern about shortcomings with vocational education.

Because of this, the political response to this year’s A-level and GCSE results should not just focus on the successful – the August exam joy in Yorkshire is normally followed up later in the year by reports that the region’s results are the worst in the country.

It also needs to reflect the plight of those who are unsuccessful and who will prove to be long-term financial drains on the welfare system unless they can find work or training opportunities.

Some might say that they are undeserving of sympathy, or assistance, if they have frittered away their education, skipped lessons or failed to put in the necessary hours of revision.

That may be so and there will be a hard core who believe, wrongly, that their weekly benefits cheque is a legitimate career option.

Yet these individuals are a tiny minority. The overwhelming majority are left in no man’s land because of poor exam results, sub-standard careers advice or the fact that their attributes are more practical rather than academic.

I know of a friend’s grandson who went to further education college to pursue a course in electronic engineering. His enthusiasm was infectious. Yet a high turnover of staff saw his interest wane, even more so when promised work placement opportunities did not arise. He, and his family, are scathing about the inadequacies of the further education sector and the apparent lack of scrutiny within it. After doing odd jobs, he’s now working as a handyman’s assistant and totally disillusioned after not receiving the courtesy of a reply to the dozens of job application letters he has sent out.

Another acquaintance, who dropped out of school at 16 with minimal qualifications, is now trying to turn his life around as a self-employed decorator. Good luck to him. The problem is that he cannot afford to pay the £3,500 a year to insure a van which is essential to his job. What is his alternative?

A third person is getting his prospects back on track thanks to the Prince’s Trust. It is still early days, but I’m told they offered far more practical advice – and support – than any careers teacher.

Some will say, following Labour’s clumsy intervention on immigration policy this week, that it would not be a problem if the party had actually implemented Gordon Brown’s promise of “British jobs for British workers” – one of his few soundbites that actually chimed with the nation’s wishes.

If only it was this simple. A car wash manager in Leeds says he would like to employ local people from Yorkshire, but that the majority are unreliable and not prepared to do a hard day’s graft. Contrast this with the eastern Europeans who always turn up on time – and do not complain. He says it is not a question of money (his staff are paid a flat rate), but an issue of work ethic – and that too many schools are churning out pupils who are not prepared for the real world once their education comes to a stop.

The Government will say it is countering this by creating a record number of apprenticeships and giving unprecedented training powers to the new city region bodies that have been created. That may be so, but the funding available for new initiatives will only help a small proportion of school leavers. The rest will have to fend for themselves in the job market or at college.

The signs are still worrying. Almost half of the rise in employment in the past few years has been in temporary work, as illustrated by the furore over zero-hours contracts, while a quarter of students say they’re not given enough information on alternatives to university. To their school, the assumption is that this is the only option.

It is not, hence the need for the Government to use exams season to re-examine how to get the best out of students of all abilities so that as many individuals as possible can start contributing to the economy and their future prosperity. In short, this year’s A-levels and GCSEs only tell part of a much bigger story.