To think academic success truly does not matter

[Hotstuff18]

Firstly, this isn’t sour grapes. I went to a very prestigious RG university and was always the annoying girl with my hand up at school (ah misspent youth 😂). However, in almost all the adults I know now their academic outcomes have had literally no bearing on their lives now in their late 30’s and early 40’s. In my own life, my A’s at A level count for absolutely nothing when my part time teacher salary is absolutely dwarfed by my non academic DH’s who spent most of his time at school messing around and smoking behind the bike sheds. At work, a lot of my colleagues didn’t do that well in their own exams and now do the exact same job as me. Many friends who work in trade jobs having left school at 16 earn very impressive salaries meanwhile others with top grades in their exams earn low money. One particular example that always sticks out to me is a lady who lives down the street, who’s also a teacher, absolutely bombed her exams as she spent the whole time partying (whilst I spent most of year 13 diligently writing up notes and doing practice essays) and yet we ended up living on the same street doing the exact same job. I’m not bitter about this at all, I absolutely love my life however, I do regret not just having more fun at school and not worrying about my grades because it really hasn’t paid off. Obviously, for certain jobs such as medicine too grades are needed but for the vast majority it truly doesn’t matter at all. I have definitely learned my lesson on it with my own DC and have never excessively pushed them and my main priority has always been their social progress/happiness at school rather than grades, which I think will honestly stand them in far better stead than getting all 9’s in their GCSE’s. Aibu?

I am a university professor and my partner does logistics. I was very very studious at school and he was... not! Our salaries are similar. At school I was studious because I enjoyed it. For me doing school work and learning as much as possible was a hobby, not a chore. My partner applied himself equally as much as I did, but in hobbies outside of studying. I think if you really enjoy studying, you should. If you don't, then you can still be very successful. A lot is luck and creating opportunities. Problems with mental health begin when people feel stressed and overwhelmed by too much studying (or too much of anything for that matter).

I’m bowing out, cba to discuss with people who don’t see the value of education. #pathetic

This has happened because for the last millions have been churned out by universities with Mickey Mouse degrees. Too many people with unnecessary degrees devalues higher education.

😂. Education certainly hasn't done much for you, has it? It's like arguing with a 5 year old.

Interesting.
Men have brute strength of course so can do some jobs women can't or can do them faster.
Office jobs for women with non-useful degrees really don't pay well and even when women get into professions, those professions end up paying less once they're dominated by women.

"I am a university professor and my partner does logistics. I was very very studious at school and he was... not! Our salaries are similar."

Most jobs in logistics don't pay that well though.

"Tell me how many parents would be happy their children are being taught by uneducated teachers at nursery/primary/secondary school? There would be an outrage."

Private schools can hire whoever they want!

Depends how you measure success.
And it’s a bit like the tortoise and the hare too. Life is a marathon, and A levels just one stage.
One can waste an academic head start, others can over come a poor academic start to life.
Academics are also not the #1 predictor of success in life- it’s who you were born that is. Your parents, your race, your class, your geographic location down to the city.

@Gwenhwyfar Do you feel that your academic career has given you opportunities that perhaps a more lucrative career wouldn’t have, though?

My cousin is also a professor and he’s had some wonderful opportunities to live and travel to amazing places. This summer, for example, he spent several weeks doing research at another European university-his family accompanied him for part of it and had a wonderful time.

I think for him, his interest in his work and the opportunities it’s given him, have been v. satisfying.

I was quoting someone else. LMFAO at the idea you think I'm a professor!

Ah, totally missed that. 😂

I think that's why it's best to not see education as a means to an end, but as something that should be enjoyable and enriching to your life, whether it's translates to career success or not

@Ilikepinacoladass I agree, although most people need to be somewhat practical in terms of earning a living, unless they’ve got a trust fund!

Yes of course. But just because people might have the same job in the end doesn't mean academic success was pointless.

And you deffo don't need great grades to earn a living without a trust fund lol. I think they can help you to get into an area you might find interesting though as opposed to just doing a job for money.

@Ilikepinacoladass I was also thinking of the cost involved in going to university - most people can’t pay several thousand a year to graduate with a degree that doesn’t help you get a job, IYSWIM. Even though the experience will expand your educational and personal horizons.

I wish everyone could study just for the love of learning, but as PP’s have observed, most can’t.

True. I don't know the full picture in terms of fees / loans nowadays as I was lucky enough to go when fee's were more like £3k a year. But as I understand it you don't pay anything off your student loan until earning £25k a year, and then it's 9% of your earnings over a certain amount, and if you haven't paid it all off after 20/40? years it gets written off. So if your degree hasn't magically translated to a high paying career you are unlikely to pay all the fees in the end anyway?

I'm doing it on purpose to mock you...

And majority of UK parents cannot afford private school education

Data collected and correlated by who though? Academic establishments? 🤔

In your social circle you observe this. It is possible in terms of teaching or management to move into those careers later or escalate by being confident etc. it's not if you are a doctor or a pharmaceutical engineer etc. So basically, it's not that black or white.

Not the point of the thread but the loan’s system is so broken.

I worked it out once, I’m an architect so have many years of university study to be able ti have this career. I was one of the first few years of the 9k fees.

The interest rates are so high on the loan. I would need to earn 63k from the day I graduated for 27 years to be able to pay off the loan in full and for none of it to be written off after 30 years. The interest is so high that paying it off in full becomes almost impossible.

High earnings later on in a career don’t compensate for the many years that the loan would have been increasing faster than it is paid off.

The vast majority of loans will need to be written off and not just for graduates who don’t have high earning careers. Perhaps a few people in finance will pay theirs off but that’s about it. I can’t see doctors paying theirs off in full.

But that's my point, it doesn't matter to individuals if it gets written off, you say most people will never pay off in full like that's a bad thing?

It’s more about choices in your case, you could have chosen something more lucrative than teaching to train in with those grades but didn’t do that makes a difference.

A friend of mine for a first from Cambridge in one of the sciences but went on to teach secondary. It’s what she wanted but she could have had a more lucrative career.