FORGIVE me if I am mistaken, but the only problem with the recent GCSE marks appear to be in the English exams.

Now long retired after taking many examinations over the years (some with better results than others) each examination had a pass mark.

Could the current problem be, not with the actual examination or its marking, but for some other reason?

If this is this case I may have the answer.

The current teenagers seem to spend a lot of their spare time on their mobile phones, laptops and texting each other.

With messages like ‘lol’ and ‘hapy bdy 2 u’ etc, there seems to be no need for a knowledge of English.

By the time they reach the examination room for the English test it is perhaps too late to adjust to the different skills required.

PETER J COLLINS, Hinksey Hill, Oxford