Exam grades are not passing muster at all

NO more beating about the bush. If the latest GCSE results in maths and English are anything to go by, we're all doomed.

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Two in five pupils are failing in these core subjects. This year's pass rates, shockingly, are the lowest in a decade. Only 53.8% of all pupils across the country passed the maths exam this summer - down from 59.5% a year ago.

English, meanwhile, has dropped to 60.2%, the worst result since 2004. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warns that failure in the most fundamental skills is holding Britain back. You don't say.

It's not rocket science. Nor is it about AI, IT, coding - the writing of instructions for computers - or other technological skills. I bust a vessel every time I read a parent complaining on social media that their child isn't learning anything "useful" at school.