What constitutes ‘failure’?

I recently had the privilege of listening to a high-quality and balanced debate. The motion was “this house believes that today’s education is unsuited to tomorrow’s world”. The chair was a year 11 student at Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby and the participants comprised 70 or so students from local schools.

A large part of the discussion among these young people focused on what success is. While all understood the importance of qualifications, some strong views were heard: “Everybody’s success has a different definition. Grades only tell part of the story. Success isn’t a number. Schools are about more than grades.”

There was a strong recognition that home circumstances vary enormously and that success for some against massive odds, though lower in terms of raw attainment, might reflect a much higher degree of employability than that of some who, with great support and ease, had higher grades.