Judging from today's results, it's now virtually impossible to fail an A-level. The overall pass rate climbed for the 28th year in a row, with 97.6% of A-levels being graded A* - E. Sceptics used to joke that you only needed to write your name at the top of the paper to pass an A-level, but given the appallingly low levels of literacy in this country it seems probable that more than 2.4% of candidates failed to do that. From which it follows that A-levels are now so easy you can pass one without managing to write your own name. A simple 'X' will suffice, even if the rest of the paper is completely blank. (To read more, click here.)
