They came screaming into a complex world. After September 2001, in the wake of the twin towers crashing down to earth in black smoke, there was a shared sense of what is – and what is not – considered normal, being shattered all around the globe. Every baby born in the 12 months after this disaster, arrived into a society that talked of fresh new fear and mistrust. Uncertainty defined the times, and there was a hush around the world that penetrated every family home.
Today’s year group of high school leavers – or the Class of 2020 as they’re also known – have a birth date between September 2001 and August 2002, and, regardless of where they were born, cannot have escaped the changes that came about caused by 9/11. a few years later, as they toddled into doctor’s offices, it coincided with routine childhood vaccinations falling under severe scrutiny for apparently causing autism. Further ripples of confusion left many of this age group unvaccinated, and parents further frustrated. These children then navigated the unchartered waters of GCSE results, when they were rebranded from letters of the alphabet into a much more complicated system of numbers. (As if a ‘7’ could ever be as clear as an ‘A’?)
Is it any surprise, then, that this year group are again victims of chaos? Todays’ school leavers did not get to enjoy a normal transition out of secondary school into the real world of adulthood, employment and tertiary education, due to the global pandemic. While this has rocked educational systems and their governing bodies around the world, how has it affected the students themselves?
This morning, the Class of 2020 students and school leavers received their A’level results, giving them an indication of how well they performed in their final year of school, and where they might go to university. The results were expected to be mired in controversy, following a series of unfortunate events, which started with cancelled school in March, followed by the announcement of cancelled exams. Then the unprecedented process of teacher-assigned estimated grades began, figures were submitted, to end up with 39% of these results being adjusted downwards by a predictive computer system. Results were then to be released directly to students by a computer system named UCAS Track, only to find it unhelpfully crashed upon the hour of launch.
By the time this month of August came around, the Scottish school leavers had rejected their ‘Highers’ results that were subject to a similar system, British school and college leaders had declared the adjustment as “unfair and unfathomable” and the British government had backtracked to say mock exam grades could also be used. No wonder there are so many students signing up for assistance for anxiety and stress. It’s enough to get anyone into a tailspin, let alone a hormonal teenager tentatively trying to dip their toes into the unknown world of adulthood. Look at it from their perspective: How can the adults, and the systems they rely on so heavily, be trusted if they can screw things up this badly?
This Class of 2020 did not get to say good bye to their school, their teachers, nor their friends. They had exams cancelled, end of school graduation cancelled, leaving parties cancelled. Many, like my son B, turned eighteen in lockdown without a party or a trip to the pub. They have had a summer devoid of the usual holiday jobs, due to rising unemployment levels and recent business closures, and the past few months have been filled with dread due to the unprecedented way that the all-too-significant grades would be allocated this year.
And today, the big date of August 13th – which has been looming on the horizon like a grim reaper waiting to take his prey – has finally arrived. After the UCAS Track site crash debacle, some students are relieved to find they received grades they expected. Yet, many are shocked that the A grades they had been predicted by their teachers and centre of assessment did not materialize, some downgraded by two grades, denying them access to the universities and vocations they had aspired to enter.
Some will appeal their grades. Some will take up the opportunity to sit their exams in October, then reapply. Some will go to university, to find that their fate lurks in the cloisters with new surprises: no freshers gatherings, no Halls of Residence parties, no packed lecture halls. Tuition will be partially online and partially in small groups, whilst wearing a mask and maintaining a six-foot distance. Another new normal is indeed born, and Class of 2020 are again tasked with adjusting to it.
The big question is, will this disrupted year group reject the systems, leaders and status-quos that have consistently failed them, and rise collectively as a year group of anarchists? That would be an interesting outcome.
Or is this now a year group so familiar with change that they have become unflappable. There is the possibility they may compliantly adjust, then adapt better than any year group, and evolve into greater, stronger, more resourceful adults. Only time will tell.
Congratulations to all the class of 2020. Your time will come.