CONGRATULATIONS to all Buckinghamshire sixth formers, who have been slogging away for the past two years on their intensive A level courses and who have been sweating on the results, announced yesterday.

The academic pressure put on young people now is enormous, with a heavy burden of school work and homework, plus tremendous expectations of achievement demanded not just by school and parents but by Government, which sees students' success as its own.

The pass rate and grades achieved in the county have been some of the best ever, in line with national trends. So congratulations to you all for your hard work, at a time of life when there are so many other distractions.

To the girl at Wycombe High School who got five grade As and the boy at Dr Challoner's who was in the top five of the 11,000 youngsters who took A level English, we can only say 'Wow'.

But not every one can get straight As.

So congratulations to all of you who hoped for a D, and got a C. And congratulations to all of you who worked as hard as you could and still did not get anything to hit the headlines.

Real life, which you are all now about to embark on, is not an exam, though there will be tests, successes and disappointments. It may be that the way you cope with the disappointments will stand you in better stead than unremitting success.

Let people remember those they love

IT is wrong to stop people remembering the lives of their loved ones by ordering them to remove tributes on graves.

Grieving families find comfort in sometimes placing teddy bears, pebbles, or small ornaments on graves. It helps them as they come to terms with losing someone close.

It is understandable that councils such as Hughenden are concerned about health and safety.

It is quite right too that they should want to keep cemeteries tidy.

In itself a well-presented cemetery is a tribute of its own kind to those who have died.

But the fact remains that people are shocked and distressed when their tributes are removed.

It understandably creates a feeling of resentment for many who cannot understand how a small pebble, placed neatly by a grave, can cause such a problem.

It is understandable that councils want to keep graves tidy.

But carefully placed mementos can often look beautiful, cause no difficulties, and offer a lot of comfort to families.

A compromise has to be reached in the current situation with Hughenden Parish Council, or the council risks looking like it simply does not care.

In 1999, Marlow Town Council changed its mind and allowed many relatives to keep tributes on graves at its cemetery because it realised it had been wrong in the first place to order them to be removed.

It had a change of heart after listening to public opinion.

It was wrong to send out letters to grieving families telling them to take them away and it is still wrong now.