Imagine you are the head teacher of a school on the cusp of your pupils sitting their GCSEs, and you are writing some concerned reports to the parents of four under-performing children: Bristol, Leicester, Worcester and Newcastle.

“Bristol need to keep doing what they have done all season, they have been a breath of fresh air. They might have started the year behind the rest of the class as not the most intelligent of pupils, but they are really over-performing and need to keep working hard.”

“Regarding Leicester, I cannot believe they are in this position. They have really taken their eye off the ball. There is still time for them to find a way back, but strangely they are so entrenched in their current bad behaviour that it is going to be tough.”

“Worcester seem to revise and study well. However, when they come into school away from that comfortable environment at home, their productivity disappears and they seem to really struggle.”

“Overall with Newcastle, they have really toughed it out despite plenty of sick days for huge periods of the year, missing large chunks of the curriculum. But they are back now, and we know what they are capable of achieving.”