What Level of education do your parents have?

[Holliemorrisonx]

As we have the threads about parents jobs , what about parents education

I think one has a degree and one left school at 16.

Parents met at Oxbridge. My mum was one of the first women to graduate in Theology, at that time pretty much solely the province of men destined for the priesthood.

It feels like we were a generation 'ahead' of many listed here - none of my grandparents had formal qualifications (my grandfather was taught to read by my grandmother in his mid-late teens, then went to night school, in order to enter the police, where he became very senior), but all of my parents' generation went to university, as did all of my generation.

My dad left school at 15. He was in a big family and limited money so it was the norm at the time.

Same with my father. He was academically bright but the family needed the income so he left school at 14 to be a tea boy on building sites. Luckily, his brightness showed itself and he was sponsored by the firm to go to night school and qualified as a surveyor.

My mother only had a basic education, left school at 16, was forced to go to secretarial college by her parents but dropped out after a year and got a job doing filing and the like in an office.

I stayed in school until I was 18, in spite of hating every minute of it, barely scraped through my O levels and failed to get a grade good enough to reach third level. I have several IT-related qualifications and, after a mid-life career change, am currently studying for my final exam in my current career in financial services.

My brother dropped out of school as he hated it, did an apprenticeship as a carpenter and now runs a rather successful construction company.

My nephew is half way through his degree in civil engineering so looks like being the first one in our family to complete third level.

I know my grandparents too:

Both DGMs only did primary school as it was WW2 then and their parents were scared to let them leave their villages to go to middle school. Dad's mum went to the nuns to learn to sew and embroider.

Mum's dad - finished middle school at 14.

Dad's dad - finished high school at 18 and might have gone to uni in peace time but it was WW2 so got conscripted.

We had to learn about our parents/granparents education as an A level sociology homework and it was so interesting hearing all my classmates stories.

Mum - left at 16 to work as a buyer in London
Dad - left at 16 to join the army and then joined fire service after the army.

Both stayed in the same lines of work until they retired.

My Dad had 4 O levels, and my Mum has 8 O levels; gained in the 50s.

I have a BA (Hons) and a PGCE.

Dh's parents - his Dad had a Double First from Cambridge and was a Fellow of the IET

Dh has a B.Eng, and MA, and is a C.Eng

Ds has a BA (Hons) Got a First, and an MA.

My paternal and maternal grandparents possibly had the School certificate, but I am not sure.

Posted too soon!

My Dad joined the RN at 16 as a junior rating and got his commission from the lower deck. He retired as Lt-Cdr.

Mum left school at 16, as her parents couldn't afford to keep her on for A levels, and did night school. She worked at Manganese Bronze as a lab assistant, then when my parents married and moved, she was a lab assistant at a school. She later became a Civil Servant.

Dh's Dad joined the RN as an officer and made it to Cdr before leaving to go and work for a defence contractor designing torpedoes (that his son would later fire!)

Dh's Mum had a Cert Ed I think and taught. Later went into local politics.

My GPs - Gramps worked for Ransomes building tractors, and Grandma made corsets. Paternal grandfather I think was in the Army, but he left when dad was 1, so I never met him. Paternal grandmother cleaned floors, sold insurance, did whatever she could to keep body and soul (and Dad) together and in later years had a full time job at a well known department store in Cambridge. She didn't believe in education for girls and was dismayed that I had progressed beyond A levels. In her considered opinion I should have been a Nun as it would have shut me up (in more ways than one!).

My mum left school at 15 , dad at 14 . Both from farming backgrounds and both clever. My mum would have loved to go to university but it just wasn’t an an opinion for her , my dad couldn’t wait to leave school. His father had died when he was barely a teenager so he wanted to work on the family farm. He’s still farming full time at 76 so quite a determined character.
All of my siblings have university degrees.

DH: neither graduated from senior school. DH went on to get a Masters

Me: mum has masters, father has doctorate. I have a doctorate.

My parents were both the first in their families to go to university, also both youngest children. They both got PhDs, dad in his 20s, mum in her 40s. Dad went to the grammar, stayed for 6th form against his parents' wishes, but wasn't allowed to apply for Oxbridge as it wasn't for the likes of him - he went to London instead. His older brothers left the sec mod at 15.
Mum was abroad in rural area where only 7 of the class of 60 finished high school - her brothers didn't as they had to work on the farm.
Dad's parents left school at 12, mum's parents only had a couple years of schooling and Grandma never really learnt to read.

My parents both left school at 16. Dad did an apprenticeship and still works in that trade. Mum did an access course and then a Bachelors and a Masters degree in her 40s.

I didn't go to university straight from school, I did my BA part time around work and graduated last year at 28. I'll finish my MSc in May next year and then I will be starting a PhD (if I get funding).

My mum got a couple of o levels and im not sure if my dad really has any qualifications from school but has done qualifications in his field throughout his career. They're not really academic qualifications, more like certificates if that makes sense.

Dad has a drama degree- real useful . Mum did a hairdressing apprenticeship after leaving school and has mostly level 3 NVQ type education, she’s a TA now. Her Dad (so my maternal Grandad) has an art degree, my paternal Grandparents both had degrees. I also have a degree.

Dad has a masters and Mum has a hnd.

Both my parents left school at 14 and don't have qualifications. I was the first in my family to go to university.

FIL has O levels but nothing higher than that although he would have loved to go to Uni. Mil left at 15 and doesn't have any qualifications.

DM left school with nothing, not even GCSEs (or whatever the equivalent was then), same as her DM.

DF has a PhD in Chemistry, I’ve just started a PhD in Epidemiology

Love these stories.