Spare a thought for people with rubbish exam results and the class of '82

I've already had my ha'penny's worth on the whole A-Levels-are-they-too-easy? meme. And let's not forget that the circus stays in town for GCSE results next week.

So let's just spare a quick thought for the people who got rubbish grades, either because the exams were actually quite hard or because they didn't do their homework. It must be especially galling to be staring disconoslately at your 2 Es and an F when the nation's media and pub bores are braying in concert that everyone gets a gazillion A*s. Not everyone gets a gazillion A*s.

Spare also a thought for people who did their A-Levels in 1982. That was the last time that the pass rate did not go up year-on-year, making the class of '82 the group that did the hardest ever exams or the thickest ever generation. Either way they deserve our sympathy.