A Suffolk entrepreneur who left school with barely any qualifications claims children need to be taught that exams are "no measure of success" in life.

Tamar Mayne, who would have panic attacks in class, struggled with tests and left school at 16 with little in the way of GCSEs, now runs a successful company in the town making scented candles and wax melts.

She said: "We put so much pressure on young people to tick boxes, get the grades and live up to academic expectations when really we should be helping them to find ways to enjoy learning so they can be the best they can be.

"I was always so afraid that I would not make the grade that I would freeze up and my brain would empty. In an exam setting I looked incapable and this had a knock-on effect of affecting my confidence."

Tamar's comments come on the day scores of Hadleigh students will get their A-level results, with a predicted surge in good grades following teacher assessments.

When she left school, Tamar started work as a midday supervisor at a school but quickly rose up the ranks to work as a senior specialist support leader for children with special needs.

"Those children are not subjected to exams or benchmarks," she said. "They are actively encouraged to excel in ways that are important to them – not to a national standard.

"It's something I have always felt strongly about and I am very grateful that in later in life I managed to re-educate myself to believe that I could do things I wanted to do without having a raft of A*s to my name."

Tamar runs Cosy Aromas with husband Paul – an idea she came up with three years ago after experimenting with making scented candles at home.

To date the company has sent out more than 121,000 orders, have moved out of the kitchen and into a factory space and have even opened their first flagship shop in Felixstowe.

They have created almost 130 different scents and bring out new fragrances every month for their list of VIP subscribers to try out.

Tamar says a lot of the work has involved her delving back in the world of science and psychology – both among her favourite subjects in the classroom.

"Our sense of smell is one of the most powerful senses we possess, and the merest hint of something familiar can trigger a special memory or wonderful moment in our lives," she said. "The reason for this is simple. It's because there is a scientifically proven link in our brains between memory, emotion and smell.

"I find myself learning new things all the time on my job. There's no exams I have to pass to prove I'm good at it. I am just going with what I love, reading things I'm interested in and broadening my horizons.

"I hope someone somewhere takes something from my story. They may be struggling in class or unable to get the grades they need or feeling like they are failing.

"All they need to know is that just because they can't conform to set standards, doesn't mean they haven't got something wonderful to offer the world."

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