It’s A-level results day in the UK and #alevelresults2018 has been trending.
Many people shared the pressures on young students to perform well in their A-levels:
https://twitter.com/VFAnderson/status/1029845522415271936
https://twitter.com/georgiealopez/status/1029964413762240512
honestly tried my absolute hardest for these exams and now I’m sitting up stressing over the fact that the grades won’t reflect it #alevelresults2018
— brooke (@brookehilll4) August 16, 2018
Meanwhile, others took the opportunity to critique elitism within the British education system:
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1029983495916072960?s=20
Dear students, your A-levels aren’t so important. What matters most is that your parents have a house in London or the south-east in which to put you up during internships and then to use as equity for you to buy your first home. Don’t change your grades! Change your parents.
— Aditya Chakrabortty (@chakrabortty) August 16, 2018
Or I could just "do a Toby Young": fail to get the grades but have my dad ring Oxford to let me in anyway https://t.co/utDrtAYOWm
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) August 16, 2018
A spoof account for Tory MP Liam Fox decided to comfort anyone disappointed with their grades:
https://twitter.com/LiamFoxOnTour/status/1029975118997581824?s=20
Others decided to put things in perspective:
People getting your results today remember that in 10 years time when we’re all fighting each other for the last remains of the tinned rat meat no one will care about that D you got in English Literature. #alevelresults2018
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) August 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/MattU_Plym/status/1029996059160969217
As usual, the memes were out in full force:
When I open my results tomorrow #alevelresults2018 pic.twitter.com/sVCGCTmxvX
— ✨ (@scorpio444222) August 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/DoYouKnowDeWijs/status/1030026628041195520
https://twitter.com/DanOnTwitch/status/1029992029374300160
when ppl ask me about my grades #alevelresults2018 pic.twitter.com/TpUAKhP1Km
— s (@shxziaa) August 16, 2018
But we are definitely here for the success stories:
https://twitter.com/repudiatixn/status/1030022744442908672
https://twitter.com/Sekela99/status/1030001044036747264
The elation I am feeling right now is incomparable! I worked so hard, I suffered so much with my mental health, and against all odds I can finally say I’m a university student! 😭❤️#alevelresults2018 pic.twitter.com/BlGbVSlIff
— Katie M (@katie_racklyeft) August 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/danithecactus/status/1030030793702367232
And to finish, there’s this well-placed reminder:
https://twitter.com/RuffneckRefugee/status/1030020621764308992
The number of students receiving grade C or above has dropped significantly this year after the introduction of more intensive exams in England. And even for students with excellent grades, a combination of funding cuts to universities and an increase in tuition fees over the past nine years has meant that access to higher education is now harder to gain than ever.
Labour MP David Lammy has regularly criticised the elitism of Oxbridge universities and particularly their inaccessibility for Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME) students. Theresa May’s plans to review tuition fees, which were announced in February 2018, have also come under scrutiny for making a “two-tier system” rather than creating equal opportunities for all students. So while students have been under immense pressure to achieve the highest possible grades in their A-levels, unfortunately this may only be the start of another uphill struggle.
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Featured image via Aaron Jacobs/Flickr
