THOUSANDS of students are experiencing one of the most important days of their young lives. Today the waiting was over. Today the A-level results are out.

In school corridors and front rooms up and down the country tears of joy and despair were shed this morning. Those that have made the grade will be partying tonight and planning their future tomorrow.

Those that have not achieved all they hoped for will be wondering what to do next. They should make good use of the support on offer to guide them to the right decision.

More students than ever will be celebrating. Nationally, the A-level pass rate is up 0.7 per cent. Nearly nine out of ten examinations were passed.

This will prompt the inevitable outcry: exams are getting easier, the work less rigorous. Cynics who indulge in this annual lament are doing their utmost to undermine the efforts and achievements of teachers and taught.

Students should pay no heed. Blame these sour outbursts on jealousy. You have got what the critics have not: your whole life ahead of you.

Today is a rite of passage, a memory that will always be there. A-level students have been working towards this day for years. It might almost be considered the first official day of adulthood.

That so many young people are taking A-levels and gaining good grades bodes well for all our futures. We are living in the information age. A good education is no longer just a joy in itself: it is crucial in a modern economy which is dependent on a skilled and educated workforce.

Our congratulations also go to the successful AS-level students, who can justly boast that they are halfway through one of the toughest school examination courses ever devised.

Updated: 10:39 Thursday, August 16, 2001