On: GCSEs

It’s my birthday this week, and I am willing the numbers on the cards I receive to be much smaller than they inevitably will be. By contrast, today’s GCSE candidates were hoping for the highest numbers possible as they opened up that fateful portal to see what the exam gods had blessed them with.

Last week, I wrote about A-Levels results day, a day of elation and disappointment, and shared some thoughts about why exam grades do not define children. Today, on GSCE results day, the significance of numbers 1 to 9 feel weighty and future-laden and I am reminded anew that success is not found in academic achievement alone. I didn’t want to rehash what has already been written so, instead, I put my thoughts to poetry.

The Key to Success
by Laura MacKenzie

It is a strange thing, this key.
Not metal-made or machine-cut,
It hangs, not on a ring but heavy on the mind
With the weight of opportunities promised.

It glistens, this key,
Not with alloy shine or brassy glow
But with the sweat of hard work and exertion,
Exhaustion and tears of frustration.

It unlocks a gate, this key,
Not an entrance nor an exit,
But a portal to work, industry,
Study, prosperity.

This is the key to success.

It is a strange thing, this key.
Not a bit or a blade,
But numbers and letters,
The higher, the better.
(Please let German be Seven).

(Nein! German is a Nine!)
It is turning, this key,
Not all at once or suddenly,
But by gradients and grades,

Sixes and Eights.

It keeps turning, this key,
Not stopping until the gate swings wide.
The lintel reads “SUCCESS LIES WITHIN”
And inside we tread, our feet stepping stones.

Is this the key to success?

It is a strange thing, this key,
Not a master or skeleton,
But a unique combination code,
Opening but one fabled door to triumph.

It won’t open all, this key,
Not the door or the gate
We meet as we step stones within the portal,
Our feet guided by promise.

It is solitary, this key,
Not the opener needed for gate number two,
No numbers, just letters for that one,
Which leads onwards to work, industry, study, prosperity.

Surely, this is the key to success.

It is but a stepping stone, this key,
Not unlocking victory
But giving us a path through the gates
Of perseverance, contentment, satisfaction.

For THIS is the key to success.


Copyright – The Female Housemaster – 2023