To ask those who escaped a dire secondary modern school education and achieved a degree or higher to put their hands up.

[sandyholme]

I left a dire 1980s secondary modern school with only 3 GCSEs all lower than C grades yet i have managed finally to gain a Degree with the Open University!

I am therefore wondering how many Mumsnetters also achieved in education despite being deemed a failure at 11 and having numerous barriers shoved in their way in the process .

I feel a bit of a 'fraud' though because i sought out the very schools that barred me to educate my children ( that is because they are the best schools available and thats just the way the system works where i live)

I guess though i am hoping to hear of other people who bucked the system, despite being ordained down a non academic path at 11

I'm currently studying towards a BSc (Hons) in Computing and IT, but I haven't decided if I'll stay part time with the OU or move to full time with a local college/university as a Y2/L2 transfer student yet.

I started enquiring the other day to see if this was possible and received a quite unexpected almost immediate conditional offer from a local college to complete my degree with them on a full-time basis, so long as I pass my L1's (and they're happy to accept this in place of a UCAS pre-qualifier which I don't have, YAY!)

You lot have reminded me that this is about more than a shitty assignment that's giving me a tough time, bigger picture and all that!

My DH just missed grammar school by a few spelling marks when he was 11 - went to the local secondary modern equivalent quite happily and turned down the chance to go to grammar when it came up a year later. His GCSE grades were good enough to get him into the best school in the country for 6th form, and though he always felt a bit inferior there (and struggled a bit in some subjects as he hadn't had the same academic grounding) he went on to university and is now working for a large IT company you may have heard of.

The area I'm from still has the 11 + system. My Mum didn't let me take it because both my siblings were already at the comp, the eldest having failed

I had a horrible time at a dreadful school which at the time had less than 50% GCSE 5 A-C'S pass rate much lower for some specific subjects.

Awful catchement dynamics but the bigger problem being teachers of genuinely low ability and a Head who didn't give a fuck. Bullying rife and never dealt with. My sister moved school but I had to stay

Anyway, we, all 3 got degrees from good unis through our own hard work outside the classroom and all have very respectable jobs. I'm going in for my MA next year. It is no thanks to the school. One teacher had the audacity to say, after I got an A in A Level (the only person to) that they "should charge me for that"

I had a crap teacher and basically went out and bought loads of additional books and materials to learn from. I may as well have been home educated.

Rubbish primary and secondary schools or I just never listened to anything (find that hard to believe) completed degree over 8y with OU while working full time.

Struggled, never heard of a theasorus until then (I mean just how?) difficult when lectures wrote "need to write in more academic language" when no one tells you how to do that! Was just at start of Internet so nothing available for study aids like there is now. Finished with a 2:2 which most people will think is rubbish but the last 3y I also developed disability and was house bound.

My DM did. She didn't get her degree until the '90s, having left secondary modern in 1965 at 15. The system totally let her down. My MIL, who passed the 11+, hasn't got a degree.

It's funny how, when we're discussing the grammar school system, no-one waves placards saying 'Save Our Secondary Moderns'.

...not yet but starting Uni in September.

I had a traumatic home life and school wasn't all that much better - it left me angry and bitter and I couldn't have given a shit about school which left me with 3Cs and 6Ds in GCSE! I know my teachers thought I would amount to nothing.

Fast forward and after leaving my abusive ex partner and becoming a single mum I bump into my old form tutor, she asks what I'm up to these days and I wanted the ground to swallow me whole - a single mother on benefits - now I have NOTHING against single mums on benefits but I just felt ashamed, like she was judging me and thinking 'Ha, I knew it'. As I walked home with tears in my eyes I vowed that next time I bump into her I will have achieved something!

I signed up for a 6 month IT course and flew through it in around half the time. Then I signed up for an access course which I only have a few weeks left of, I've got Distinctions in every single unit so far (so damn proud of me).... next stop, Uni!

Never to old to learn/retrain and the confidence boost this has all given me is worth as much as the education itself!

Yup, terrible schooling, left in 2000, did Art and Design at a great college, college encouraged me to apply for what ever course I wanted to do. I redid my gcse maths, did an As level in psychology, got 2 a levels in art and design and a London University let me do psychology and human rights with them! I got a 2:1 (1 mark off ) and then did a post grad. Thank goodness for that college.

My dad left school without an o'level to his name, worked in all sorts of jobs from hairdressing to being a market trader. Later he started in sales, moved into life insurance and ended up as a senior partner in a professional services firm.

My DH went to a terrible private school, got 4 GCSE's, one A level, went to a not very good poly somehow doing something completely random and useless and ended up with a 2:1. After graduation he got a job as a van driver, started doing data input for the company he was driving for, got a job in IT earning about £11 k and is now incredibly senior in Technology in the City.

I went to a secondary modern because it was two minutes from home and I needed to be around for my small brother as both parents were unreliable and would disappear without warning. We had grandparents nearby but I felt responsible for him.

I got a reasonable amount of GCEs in 1974, didn't shine the way I should have, but eventually went to uni as a mature student.

I've taught in comprehensives and struggled as a single parent to keep my dd in an independent from 11-18. She went on to university, met a very suitable boy (public school), married, and their dd starts at prep for what I consider a really 'posh' independent in a couple of months' time.

Hard work, taking your opportunities, being aspirational.

The secondary modern was a church school. It went comprehensive and is now one of the most sought-after schools in the locality.

Not Quite. The OU is very well respected by other Univerversities.

You can access most Universities including Oxford !

With completion of Level 1 Modules..tps://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/entrance-requirements/examples-vocational-and-other-qualifications?wssl=1

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/entrance-requirements/vocational-and-other-qualifications?wssl=1

I went to an ok city secondary but rarely attended during year 10 and 11 meaning my predicted straight As materialised as a small handful of Bs and Cs. D in maths.

Horrible home life, just wanted to get out so moved into my own flat the day after my last exam when I was 15 and never went back. Did a creative BTEC all whilst working various part time jobs.

Went to uni in London at 17 (had originally been moved up a year at school before I stopped going) but it wasn't for me so dropped out after a year but stayed in London working.

Then at 21 I started an OU degree (best decision ever) and 7 years on I am just finishing my Msc (distinction!) and have secured a fully funded PhD place for Oct. I will be a Dr by 31, so not too bad.

I LOVE academic study. Funnily enough I was not asked for my GCSE grades on my PhD application 😉

I hope you are going to your OU graduation? Such an achievement WELL DONE.

Can I put my hand up on behalf of my DB who (via a degree and career in Engineering) is now a teacher,head of department in the grammar school who rejected him!

Do comps count? We didn't have sec modern as no grammar schools.

I left school with nothing and began my education in my thirties.

I have a HND, Hons Degree, PgCE, Exec Diploma Mgt from CMI (Post grad level)

C7G level 2 Literacy and my claim to fame and my proudest moment a C&G level 2 Numeracy.

Fantastic thread - I've loved reading what all you amazing, talented people are doing. I left school at 16 with no qualifications other than a huge inferiority complex and a deep-seated belief that I'd never amount to much. I had kids in my 20s and left an abusive relationship when they were little. Once DD1 started school all the old fears about education came crowding back, and I was worried I'd pass on the worst of my hangups to my daughters. Luckily their school was a small village primary with some of the loveliest teachers I'd ever met who 1) made me feel that I had something to offer my own children educationally, and 2) talked me into doing some classes on my own behalf - a local college ran access courses in the social sciences. One thing led to another, and a few years later there I was off to university! My DDs were in their teens by then, and I was determined to be a good role model for them. The first couple of terms were rough - I was convinced I couldn't do it, reading sessions more often than not ended in tears, and it only took a less-than-effusive response from a tutor to bring the old doubts crowding back. But I stuck with it, and by the end of the first year it got a lot easier, and I started not just enjoying it but loving it. And although the benefits in terms of self-confidence were a lot of what I was after, the benefits of qualifications aren't to be sniffed at either - I'm now working in a decent career with a good, steady salary instead of the crappy, pay-hardly-anything jobs I used to have to take (in the days before NMW when pay could be truly shocking).

All of you who've clawed your way back into education despite the setbacks, I salute you! Best of luck to those who are still on the way - here's to the journey.

I thought Secondary Moderns were abolished in the 70s. Could be a regional thing though.

When people say Secondary Modern in areas where it hasn't existed for at least 40 years it tends to be snob-speak for comprehensive education.

I went to a good school but because of an awful, abusive family background I didn't go much in the fifth year and left with three GCSEs at grade c and above. I went to a Russell Group uni in my twenties as a mature students. I'm now completing an MSc and have been shortlisted for a PhD studentship. Ironically, not in any of the three subjects I have school level qualifications in!

Just. I will be going to my graduation !

I have just looked up my old school results from 1994 .( Left 1990) Thats as far as the records for results go back . 15% 5 GCSE A-C guess it was worse in 1990.

However , rather sadly my old school only achieved 27% GCSE A*-C IN 2012 . 47% (2015). It appears the school has only recently started to improve.

I left school in 1983 with 1 O Level & 1 CSE. In 1997 I did an access course & went on to achieve a 1st in Environmental Science. I couldn't have done it with out the help of my parents, who supported me though.

Totally dire school. Some tough hard nuts went there too. So when i went back with my degree and was employed as a teacher they looked at me like some who had escaped a terribly bleak future. Its the only time i remember anyone thinking being a teacher was something i should be proud off and gave them hope!

They closed the school of course a few years later!

Sandy Reading through the Oxford criteria has cheered me up hugely, I'm currently pass 2, bordering pass 1 level so now I'm a happy bunny. I honestly didn't expect somewhere such as Oxford to have that approach when some of my local uni's haven't even replied to my emails. Perhaps a little more badgering is needed.

Thank you for that lovely boost

utterly dire secondary, left at 15 with 5 grades worth having, college for a couple of yrs doing OND, degree then Masters - perfectly possible. School was an utter failure - I was top streamed all the way through but utterly fell at the fence due to lack of support and teachers not giving a monkeys.

As tot he OU assignment bullet point what you want to say, don't waffle and have a conclusion :-) 3 days is easy - 3 hrs maybe not so...

My school was a secondary modern till the year before I started, so although it was a comprehensive the teachers had no experience of teaching A levels and the intake was mostly kids from rough estates.

The entire time I was there the school was under threat of closure. The teacher's strike was also happening.

I wanted to apply to Cambridge but careers advisor said I shouldn't as there was no way I'd get through the entrance exam.

I also wanted the school to predict me AAB in my A levels, but they refused because at that point no one in the school had ever passed an A level.

The whole thing made me very determined to do well, and I taught myself a large part of my A levels and achieved AAAB. When I went to pick up my results the teacher looked at them before handing them to me and her jaw dropped.

I went on to get a degree and a post-grad qualification but none of that matches the satisfaction I got from being the first person from my school to get A levels and go to uni.

Yup me too.

Absolutely dreadful school. But now have 4 degrees to my name. Didn't go to uni til I was in my 30s.

Yup. Have a masters with distinction. My own company and a great family.