The steps on the social ladder were clearly marked out. Even at grammar school, the majority of children left at 16, after sitting for GCE O level
Three O levels (including English & maths) would get you the most junior kind of clerical work – white collar, but probably waged rather than the status of a monthly salary
5 O levels (still with maths & English) would get you higher status – the equivalent of Civil Service Clerical Officer. You could also apply for army officer training & possibly an articled clerkship with an accountant, solicitor or Chartered Surveyor
If your parents supported you through the 2 extra years of 6th form, 2 A levels could get you a junior management post – bank, Civil Service Executive Officer. It could also get you training for SRN at one of the major London teaching hospitals, or 2-year training for primary, secondary modern or specialist sport or domestic science teaching
About 1 in 20 of the age group got to University, on a means tested grant. From the provincial point of view the main purpose of a university education, except for medics & scientists, seemed to be to qualify to teach in a grammar school
Even in those days a teacher might say that they could not teach the subject as they would like to be able to do, because they had to make sure we got the all-important O level – just as the driving instructor would later say they were teaching you to pass the test, not how to be a good driver
Some testing of proficiency is obviously essential. The trick is to leave enough room for personal interests & passions, the development of new & unconventional ways of thinking, not just efficient repetition of what the examiners already know
The problem with an education policy which judges its outcome by how many children have 5 good GCSE’s (including maths & English) is that we seem to have set our sights on producing a nation of clerks
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