Episode description

It's A-level results day and the message from the Education Secretary is to urge students not to worry too much about the results, that no-one will ask about them in 10 years' time.

The PM has also said that there are plenty of other options available to those who didn't get the grades they need. But is this really the message for ministers to send to kids who have been studying for these things for years?

And would they be saying the same to their own kids? We also analyse whether this was the year to revert to a 2019 marking system, with a generation still deeply affected by the pandemic.

Jon and Lewis also discuss the life and broadcasting legacy of chat show king Michael Parkinson who has died at the age of 88. He invented the chat show format for UK television. We talk through the changes in TV which have taken place over the last half century and why we won't see Parky's like again.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Will Gibson-Smith & Rory Symon