Political Scrapbook’s round up of A-Level results coverage highlights how news editors believe that results day means they have a free-pass in rampant sexism and sexualisation of teenagers.
And just as the “sexy A-Levels” phenomenon is still going strong, it is still not the only results day crime committed by the media.
The Telegraph report that “more than 260,000 students took A-level exams this summer.”
That is less than a third of all young people. And that is a miniscule 0.39% of the UK population.
But every year it gets a majority of media falling over themselves to agonise about pass rates and the university clearing system.
Yet this isn’t what employers want. For a start employers actually want more soft skills, not just exam grades.
And it isn’t what young people want. More teenagers want to do Apprenticeships than ever before (last year’s numbers are here, there’s not been a comparison released this year, British Gas got closest).
The A-Level route may be right for some people, but the media should tone down their coverage of A-Levels – and ditch the sexism – and spend more time worrying about what happens to the majority of young people.
Ramblings Of A PR 
Posted on 15/08/2014
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