'I'd like to know when those saying 'Oh, I went to state school and got good grades' were at school.
I went to a state comp but the standards have been steadily dropping, IMO, in the last two decades.'
Well, I only left my FE college two years ago and I got 3 As and a B (in less than fantastic domestic circumstances and whilst working 20 hours a week as well). I went to a local comp until I was 16, where I got good, but not amazing GCSE grades. I then moved to the local college, mostly because I hated my school and didn't fancy their well regarded sixth form. My college had a reputation for being for thick people, I think because it does GCSE retakes, access courses, vocational courses B-TECs etc. All of my friends who stayed on at sixth form used to rib those of us who had left. And I got better A levels than every single one of them. My teaching was, I would say, average. Not 'average' is the disparaging sense, genuinely, about average. The teachers all knew and were passionate about their subjects, but all taught large numbers of students, so one to one time was limited. They did, however, offer help during lunch hours and via email, so it was available, but only if you took the initiative. In all of my classes, grades ranged from As to Us. I would say, therefore, that it was down almost entirely to a student's level of ability and, especially, commitment.
Having said all that, of course, most people would agree that it is easier to get good grades at private schools. They simply have more time and resources. Also, parents willing to shell out such huge amounts of money will almost without exception take a great interest in their child's progress. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. Far from it. Anyone vaguely academic and with a decent work ethic can get to university these days. And anything above and beyond that puts you in with a decent shot of getting into a 'good' uni or onto a 'proper' course. I, for one, have found that fellow students with similar A levels from private schools(and my uni has loads of them)struggle when they get to university. They are far less used to working off their own backs, and often over indulge when first away from their often strict and pressurised home and school lives. They are unlikely to get the top degrees, which will give me a small amount of satisfaction. However, I also know they'll mostly end up getting fantastic jobs through their parents or other contacts from their privileged worlds. As someone else said, we need to get rid of the myth of meritocracy.