Granular grades

In the UK, a grade of A* is given to students who do better than A. There were too many getting A so to differentiate between them, the new grade was invented. I foresee this process continuing with A**, A*** and so on; this will look increasingly untidy.

In the spirit of reform I propose grading examination results from A to Z.

Clearly, existing grades would need to be mapped to the new scale but this pain would be offset by the fantastic side effect that words or small phrases could be spelt out. In the UK, students with 11 GCSE results might be able to spell

THATWASEASY

MCDONALDS

USELESSFOOL

WASSOCK

NOHOPER

PRISONFORU

KFC

HELPME

Hours of fun for those needing to put a memorable spin on their results.