COURIER OPINION: Exam results aren’t everything

As rites of passage go, exam results day is right up there with the best of them.

For some the envelope dropping through the letterbox, or in more recent years the text message arriving to the phone, brings both joy and the comfort of a future secured.

For others that same experience is a source of fear, trepidation and anxiety.

Ultimately, whatever is on the record card – good, bad or indifferent – lives with the individual for the rest of their days.

So as exam season gets under way, and The Courier publishes the latest rankings for Tayside and Fife schools, there’s no question that this is a big deal.

But many question how useful exams are at considering a person in the round, beyond their academic achievement.

Schools have spent decades struggling with the academic versus vocational skills dichotomy.

Ranking number one in the exams league table may be nice.

But surely the most important thing is that Scotland’s young people achieve their highest potential, whatever that might look like.

The majority of school leavers move into further education, work or training and find their niche in life.

Exams have their place, but they are not the be all and end all