At Red Balloon, we know that there are many different ways to measure success.
Though exam results and attainment records can give us a snapshot of a student’s academic progress while with us, they cannot capture our students’ non-academic achievements or progress towards their personal goals. Our aim is not to churn out perfect exam results, but to ensure our students grow as individuals and develop the personal skills, wellbeing knowledge and academic understanding to rejoin their peers and successfully pursue their future life goals.
This time of year, it’s easy to shift our focus to upcoming exam results. It can be a stressful time waiting to hear how you did. But it’s important to know that exam results are only one metric, and while they may be important, they do not reflect how smart you are or who you are as a person. Exams don’t represent the potential of each individual.
Measuring Success
Success looks different to everyone. For some, success might look like enjoying learning again. It might look like finding a new favourite subject in lessons or being confident enough to make new friends. For some young people at Red Balloon, success looks like simply coming out of their bedroom. Red Balloon celebrates all of these successes no matter what they look like.
A Red Balloon staff member offers this wisdom about exam results:
“Exams are a foundational feature of the educational and employment systems. They no doubt open the door to possibility and opportunity in further education and employment. But we, as a society, get far too obsessed with what can be measured – be it grades, hours or calories. The things that we are able to measure easily do not dictate what is valuable and what is not.”
While it can be difficult to see past exam results, it’s important to remember that many other skills and qualities are not accounted for on the test. Creativity and thinking outside the box cannot be measured on an exam paper!
Remember: exams are unfortunately important for some future opportunities, but certainly not all, and they aren’t an accurate reflection of what people are capable of. Whatever the exams result, there is a wide world of opportunity and many paths towards your own success.
Key Takeaways
- There are many different ways to measure success.
- Exam results cannot capture non-academic achievements.
- Exam results do not reflect how smart you are or who you are as a person.
- Exams don’t represent the potential of each individual.
- Success looks different to everyone.
- The things that we are able to measure easily do not dictate what is valuable and what is not.
- Creativity and thinking outside the box cannot be measured on an exam paper!
- Exams aren’t an accurate reflection of what people are capable of.
- Whatever the exams result, there is a wide world of opportunity and many paths towards your own success.
