It's impossible not to feel sympathy for pupils who took their A-levels this year.
First their GCSEs were horribly disrupted by Covid lockdown, then their A-level studies were hampered by the slow recovery from the pandemic and teacher strikes.
Now, they are also having to pay the price of grade inflation over the past three years, the product of over-generous teacher assessments taking the place of exams.
Between 2019 and 2022, the number of As and A*s shot up from 25.4 to 36.4 per cent.
For the integrity of the system to be maintained, this rampant grade inflation had to be reversed.
So this year the proportion receiving top grades was cut to 27.2 per cent, 9.2 points down on last year (though still the highest ever, excluding the Covid years).
First their GCSEs were horribly disrupted by Covid lockdown, then their A-level studies were hampered by the slow recovery from the pandemic and teacher strikes
As a result of tougher marking overall, 19,000 missed their required grades this year, putting them among a record 61,000 scrambling for places through clearing.
Many will be aggrieved that they are being more harshly treated than the cohorts of the past three years.
Covid wasn't their fault, yet they're being punished for it.
Students in England have particular cause to complain. The other countries of the UK decided not to return to pre-pandemic grading until 2024, so their results yesterday were still artificially high.
But although there are arguments around whether the pre-pandemic system could have been re-introduced more gradually, there's no question it had to happen.