For many teachers, last year’s traumatic A-level results day will remain a “where were you when…?” moment for years to come. 

Watching the students and teachers from my school community pick themselves up from this disaster was by turns depressing and inspiring. Teenagers crestfallen at their deflated grades quickly busied themselves on the phone to Ucas and universities, learning earlier than most the thin-lipped scowl of resignation that adults universally adopt when put on hold. 

Tweets were sent; Instagram posts were shared; our headteacher appeared on Newsnight that evening, in a bid to condense students’ anger into a three-minute soundbite.

While the situation may have looked bleak at the time, the reality is that the class of 2020 have gone on to achieve remarkable things in their first term and a half out of school. 

Coronavirus: The oldest child of the pandemic

The current “Year 14” were backed by a triple-lock system that all but promised students a fair assessment outcome, and with many universities guaranteeing places to record numbers of offer-holders for 2020 or 2021 entry. And they have been vocal in their efforts to hold universities and the government to account over an expensive and lingering scandal, which has overshadowed the juvenile joys of their fresher year. 

Those opting to take a gap year have experienced better outcomes from autumn exams than their summer 2019 predecessors, boosting their prospects of successful Ucas outcomes this time around. 

It is as if the class of 2020 were the oldest child of the coronavirus pandemic. Just like the oldest child in a family, they suffered at the inexperienced hands of the adults charged with their care, but found a way to succeed despite the blunders of their role models. 

They may have had to develop maturity beyond their years in short order, sacrificing some of their last care-free months along the way. But they have been exceptional role models to the cohorts that follow them. Any reservations that future employers may harbour about the qualifications these young people have earned should be tempered by the strength of character they have had to develop.

Year 12: The youngest child of the pandemic

The other group facing public exams last year were the current Year 12, whose experience on GCSE results day marks them out as the youngest child of the pandemic. The outcry over A-level results meant that GCSE students walked into school on 20 August knowing that they’d be receiving the better of their centre-assessed grades or their algorithm-adjusted outcomes. 

The panicked, protective approach that the adults had taken with the A-level cohort had left us short of time and energy to deal with their younger “siblings”; there was a feeling of guilty indulgence as some students skipped away with optimistic-seeming grades. 

What’s more, by the time they begin their own Ucas process in September, there is a strong chance that the application cycle will look a lot more normal than it has for the past two years. Even if it does not, they will have spent upwards of a year learning from the mistakes made by their older colleagues and teachers. 

We should expect them to be every bit as resourceful, opportunistic and adept at claiming the spotlight as any youngest child, as they chase university places, with Ucas forms stuffed with inflated GCSEs.

Year 13: The hard-done-by middle child

This, of course, leaves the class of 2021 as the hard-done-by middle child of the pandemic. With neither the confidence earned by the oldest nor the attention demanded by the youngest, the current Year 13 cohort are in a position of enormous risk, as Ucas season comes to its extended conclusion this Friday. 

I have pored over personal statements from refugees and polyglots, straight-A students and staggering overachievers, knowing that their options will be circumscribed by the need to live at home to save money or to look after vulnerable parents. 

Add into this mix the large number of gap-year applicants and an uncertain assessment landscape, and it is little wonder that we have seen many students lean reluctantly towards less-demanding courses at local universities. 

Those who have dared to dream of the most competitive options have had their hopes dashed: speaking with colleagues at state schools in the local area, we all agreed that we were disappointed not to see more students receiving offers for Oxbridge, medicine, law and dentistry. 

The remark last week from Oxford that it would make fewer undergraduate offers than usual this year was galling - not only because it came two weeks after it announced admissions decisions, but also because it is hard to believe that a university with a £6.1 billion endowment fund could not have found a way to squeeze in a few more students this year.

The middle-child syndrome affecting this year’s leavers could have disastrous impacts in the long run. Overlooked by admissions tutors and underappreciated by stressed teachers, these students will be faced with exams they don’t recognise on topics they’ve not been taught, to earn grades they can’t rely on for entry to universities that don’t suit them. 

Unless we address this looming crisis of confidence head-on, we risk letting down the cohort who have been worst affected by the pandemic at the time they need us most.

Will Yates is deputy raising standards leader (sixth form) at Barnhill Community High School, in West London