You are more than your grades

A few weeks ago, Preet Chandi found out her words had been included in a GCSE English Language exam paper.

Right there in front of thousands of students across the UK: an extract from her Antarctic expedition journal, printed beside 19th-century explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

It was surreal. And not just because she's dragged a 90kg sledge across the South Pole alone.

It was surreal because, as she puts it:

I didn’t do well in my GCSEs. At all.

Then What?

She failed some exams. Felt disappointed. Unsure. A little lost.

She didn’t have a grand plan, let alone know where Antarctica was.

But she kept going. She changed course. Trained as a physiotherapist. Joined the Army. Built resilience the long way. Said yes to discomfort. Said yes again. And again. Until suddenly, Antarctica wasn’t just a place on a map. It was somewhere she was headed alone, across 700 miles of ice.

Now she’s been there three times.

If today went your way

We want to say this: well done. If you opened your results this morning and saw the grades you worked for - we’re celebrating with you. That kind of success takes time, effort, and commitment. It matters.

And if today felt tougher, or didn’t go quite how you hoped, there’s still more ahead than you can probably see right now.

As Preet puts it:

Even if today didn’t go the way you hoped, don’t worry. You are more than your grades.

Her story is a reminder that progress doesn’t always follow a straight line, and that achievement comes in many forms... sometimes years later, and in places you never expected.

We are all more capable than we know

At Outward Bound, we believe education doesn’t stop when the exam paper ends. That soft skills like confidence, resilience, and leadership matter just as much as grades and often more.

We believe that growth doesn’t come from comfort. It comes from being challenged, supported, stretched and from people like Preet showing what’s possible when you refuse to be defined by a single moment.

She was once a student who failed her exams.

Now she’s the one in the paper.