At this time of year, I find myself thinking less about grades, and more about the youngsters who have sat the examinations.

Of course, examination results matter. They represent years of effort, determination and hard work. Every student who collected their results last week has a right to feel proud of what they have achieved.

But I sometimes wonder whether we have allowed examination results to occupy too much space in the conversation about education.

For a few days each August, we seem to judge schools, students and entire year groups by a set of letters and numbers. Headlines celebrate percentages and league tables. Social media fills with statistics. Success becomes something that can be easily measured, compared and ranked.

Yet anyone who has worked closely with young people knows that the most important things about them rarely fit neatly into a spreadsheet.

We should help young people discover not only what they're capable of achieving, but who they are becoming.

As a headteacher, I'm fortunate enough to see that process up close. I see the student who finds the confidence to speak in front of an audience after years of avoiding it. The one who recovers from disappointment and keeps going when things don't come easily.

None of those achievements appear on a results certificate, but I would argue they are every bit as important as the grades themselves.

One of my favourite moments on results day comes after the envelopes have been opened and the initial excitement has settled. The conversations often move quickly beyond grades.

They talk about possibilities. Those conversations stay with me far longer than any set of statistics.

When I look at this year's leavers, I am proud of their academic achievements. They have worked hard and they deserve to celebrate their success. But I am even prouder of the people they have become.

They leave us not simply with qualifications, but with interests, ambitions, friendships and experiences that will help shape the rest of their lives.

For too long, education has sometimes implied that success means arriving at the same destination as everyone else. Yet the world our young people are entering increasingly values creativity, adaptability, curiosity and independent thinking.

FH Frensham Heights GCSE Results Day
All smiles on GCSE Results Day at Frensham Heights. (Frensham Heights School)

It rewards those who know how to ask good questions, collaborate with others and approach challenges from different perspectives.

Schools have an important responsibility to help young people achieve academically. But I believe we have an equally important responsibility to help them discover what matters to them and to give them the confidence to pursue it.

The certificates collected last week are worth celebrating. They are evidence of hard work, perseverance and achievement.

But they are not the whole story - the real story is the young person holding them.

And if, by the time they leave school, they have a stronger sense of who they are, what inspires them and where they might go next, then that feels like success to me.

By Ben McCarey, Headteacher, Frensham Heights School