A whole different level This time every year the A Level exam results are out... and this time every year, the breakfast shows wheel out a couple of cherry-picked students to open their results live on air. And every year they get straight A-grades. Not suprising really, given that the whole thing relies on their colleges making their results available early.

Well, not on my watch. I made the decision several months ago not to do that on the BBC Radio Swindon breakfast show this year. Not only is it predictable, but it isn't real (and I speak as someone who flunked my A-Level History and only got into my first choice University thanks to a generous admissions tutor).

So, instead, we found ourselves a 19 year-old who was retaking her exams after a disappointing set of grades last year- and for whom this was really a last stab at going to University. Our radiocar reporter spent the show at her house - capturing all the tension of the most important morning of her life. No slick choreography - and not a results envelope in sight. Just a slice of real life.

And the story that unfolded after the show - when she eventually got her results - is utterly compelling. She missed the grades again - and had to make some big decisions very quickly. So we've got a great story for tomorrow now, too.

Labels: Exams, Journalism, Radio

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