The cancellation of exams has left school leavers on the scrapheap The Government is discussing "catch up" plans - but it seems unlikely that they will reach their intended targets 1 June 2021 • 7:00pm Covid-19 is not an equal opportunities virus. From the start of the pandemic, we knew that it posed little serious threat to the young. Yet children were locked down just like everyone else. With schools closed they missed out on education, extra-curricular activities, friendships and rites of passage. Exams have been cancelled twice. Now, just as life slowly begins to return to normal, thousands of teenagers find themselves out of school and with nothing to do once more. For pupils in Years 11 and 13, this week is not just a half-term break but the end of their school days entirely. With GCSE and A-level exams replaced by teacher assessment and in-class tests, their results have already been determined. What was once “study leave” is now just “leave”.