It should have been a week of huge celebration for hundreds of Hartlepool families, and rightly so. The A level results were published last week, and showed that Hartlepool students are performing way above the regional and national average.

At Hartlepool Sixth Form College, the pass rate for A levels was 99.7 per cent. At the College of Further Education, the pass rate was 96 per cent. English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College achieved a 99 per cent pass rate.

Many, many congratulations should go out to the students who worked hard for their results, to their teachers for providing a high degree of professionalism and dedication in the studies, and also to the students’ parents, who had to put up with weeks of stress and hassle, certainly if I was anything to go by when I was doing my A levels. I wish all students from the town the very best of luck in their future studies and careers.

It is perhaps a strange thing to say, but I really enjoyed doing my A levels. I think it marked the point when I became aware of the huge possibilities in life and helped me articulate my ambition. It also provided me with skills which I still use today.

A number of things have struck me as I read the reports about this year’s A level results. The first is how people have tended to stop going on about how the A levels have become ‘dumbed down’ and that by turning up and having a pen you get an A grade. I think this sort of talk is disrespectful to the hard working students. The best part of my job is being able to go round schools and colleges and speak with pupils and students. It strikes me that they are becoming more ambitious and more aware of the possibilities in life, and are determined to work hard to achieve them. I know that some parts of the media will have you believe that every 17 or 18 year-old will sooner whip out a knife on you than look at you, but that is not the case. We have seen by these A level results a clear indication that a high proportion of our young people are working hard and will go on to have great careers.

The second thing that struck me is how there is a divide between the North and the South of the country with A level results. Basically, students in the South East are receiving better A level grades that students here in the North East. That is not the case in Hartlepool – the Town’s A level results stand out as being well in excess of the national average. Again, this is something that is truly outstanding, and something we should be proud of.

There remain concerns. I think one of the big factors affecting the town is how we retain many of these bright students, who may go off to University and then get a job elsewhere. To have a thriving town economy we need those bright young people to come back and set up businesses and pass on their skills. Hartlepool still has a relatively small number of young people going on to Further and Higher Education that needs to change so that more people can equip themselves with the skills they need to have a good job. The message of the last week is positive. Hartlepool is getting better and is providing young people with a quality Further Education experience that is difficult to match elsewhere. Well done everyone!