Hundreds of thousands of students will find out their A-level results this week.
For many it will destroy their hopes for the future.
One in five young people say they have “abandoned their ambitions” according to a new report by The Prince’s Trust charity.
It found that over a third of 25 year olds thought they would “end up on benefits” because their grades weren’t good enough.
And more than a quarter said their results would always hold them back.
Tory education secretary Michael Gove plans to make this worse by “reforming” A-levels.
From 2015 students will have to take all their exams at the end of their two-year courses.
Currently students take exams at the end of the first year, called an AS-level, which counts towards their A-level.
Even university vice chancellors say it will make it harder for children from state students to get into higher education. More than two thirds oppose the reforms in a recent survey.