ONCE again, the GCSE exam results are published with record levels of achievement, and once again we have the debate about falling standards, "dumbing down" etc, and the resultant political backlash.

Surely the actual level of achievement as measured against a benchmark is largely irrelevant anyway, as GCSE students (and everyone else for that matter) are ultimately judged against the performance of their contemporaries in whatever they choose to do.

You could say that achievement in any area of life can only be measured against the strength of the competition. Or, if you wish to put it cynically, we only succeed at the expense of others who fail.

The number of university places or employment opportunities on offer has to be the limiting factor of achievement, and this is usually determined mainly by global factors such as the current economic climate.

It also baffles me that the total number of GCSE passes from A to G are always published in the press, with utter disregard for the grades attained - this makes a student with ten grades from D to G appear to have achieved more than another with nine straight A*s - what a great leveller!

Everyone knows that in the "real world" only A to C grades really count for anything anyway, so who's fooling who?

Martin Hayton,

Hallard Way,

Strensall, York.

Updated: 10:18 Tuesday, August 28, 2001