70 Up - ITV teaser for "later this year"

[Rostio]

This looks fabulous!

My favourites Neil, Symon and Bruce are mentioned, Suzy and Charles return to the programme and tributes to the lovely Nick, Lynn and of course Michael Apted.

Placemark here for sharing the latest news?

I went to teacher training college but dropped out after a term in 1973. I had A levels but you could get a TTC place for primary then with only O Levels. I did a few other jobs then went to university by which time I had a baby. It was perfectly possible to do this then with full grants and dependent grants for single parents. My London borough also offered heavily subsidised nurseries.

My point being if she didn't go to university or other HE it was because she chose not to take that route not because it was impossible. It was easier then than now.

I wondered why he had left the lay ministry and also left being a politician. It seems he just kept moving on and trying different things but none of them lasted. He seemed a very lonely forlorn figure.

A bit similar to Tony trying and abandoning lots of things but I like Tony's philosophy of 'Better to be a has been than a never been'.

and what a shame he didnt move to Australia where he had someone who loved him

Thats interesting
What qualifications did teachers come out with ?
My sister trained as a teacher in the 90s and needed Alevels and she got a BEd

I think there’s quite a grandiosity to Neil.

In the 70s you could do a Cert Ed with 5 'O'Levels although many colleges asked for 2 A Levels. You would be qualified to teach primary ir in a secondary modern but would be unlikely to get a job in a Grammar. The new BEd degree was an option. I think that changed in 79/80 and teaching became a degree only profession. I did a 4 year BEd(Hons) and loved it. The TTC I went to from school was not a good fit. As I mentioned above sometime in between I looked at studying to be a librarian and I'm sure that was a degree course but I could be mistaken.

In many ways it was a golden age for young people from any background to get a Higher Education with full maintenance grants available.

I don't think anyone said it was impossible, did they? She definitely had said she wanted to be a teacher and then hadn't. And I wondered why. That's all.

Neils interviews are a window into the impact mental health and neurodiversity have on life. All of Neil's interviews up to 56 I think are on one youtube clip. Neil's story is very complex as to me theres mental health issues and / or neurodiverse traits and in some ways taking part in 7up hasn't helped him in life. The interviews show how these mental health issues / ND traits start to really impact life from early teens onwards. He's an incredibly intelligent and wise man. Part of his interview by a lake in I think 42up foretold the future of what society looks like with 24 hour screens.

I don't want to continue the discussion around Lynne's education specifically. Peter makes the point clearly in later episodes that it was easier for those from "lower level" backgrounds to access HE owing to grants, lack of tuition fees etc. Having said that, in many communities it still wasn't what was expected of many, especially girls.

Neil is a troubled soul, the difference between him as a bright spark of a 7 year old and then a troubled adult from 21 upwards (ignoring 14 as so many of them look awkward and reluctant). Although if you watch him again at 7am it could be said that the movement of his hands etc. is strimming?

@HelloandWelcomeToYou I completely agree about Neil. It makes me reflect that he was born at the ‘wrong’ time where, as I said earlier, there was zero awareness of neurodivergence.

Nobody said it was impossible. I'm just saying she chose not to pursue it for reasons of her own which she was entitled to do and had no obligationto explain.

Yes I think that was the ethos I learned at my inner city primary and in the community where I grew up - PLU had to graft and fight for everything and look after ourselves/families. That wasn’t always such a bad message to receive and I look back on what was a good school which gave poor children at least a chance to aim higher and we did look after each other.

I love watching them grow into themselves. So many of them seem lighter and happier as they age, and even seem to suit their looks. Jackie, Paul and his wife, Tony and his wife, and especially Susie. Neil didn't age as well physically, but has actually achieved a lot, not financially or having children, but has touched many lives and lived many iterations. I do believe he blames his parents for his mental health struggles. He hints at neglect, but that may be conflicted with his probably neurodiversity. I also love that so many of them attest to the fact that it is people that matter in then end, not money or status. So many of them had atypical childhoods, but actively chose to give their children a very standard upbringing.

I don’t agree they had to follow the paths (some didn’t) but being given high expectations by school and parents correlates with higher achievement. The expectations set for the poorer children were notably much lower. Few of the children moved outside the expectations set for them at a young age.

At this time expectations set for WC children, black children and girls were low, as was the quality of education provided for the majority of these children in secondary modern schools. Most were expected to be out at work at 14/15 depending on when they were born and children tend to fulfil expectations. My primary was one of very few in the area which seemed to set higher expectations for WC children and I don’t think it was an accident that many of my class did quite well. I also don’t think it was an accident that the head teacher was a woman who had herself done well and come from “us”. My youngest sibling had most of his schooling at a different primary after a forced move of home and my parents’ regret was that it set such low expectations for the children (although I’m sure it makes for an easier life for the school).

Sorry coming back to this thread late but playing catchup!

I’m a 60s baby and knew girls (it was always girls) who took professional librarian qualifications on the job, starting work in the library service at 18. I think it was one of many jobs where qualifications were taken in work.

I think “choice” is an interesting word - we don’t make choices in a vacuum. Expectations and family finances both featured heavily in education after 11. Sue’s comments suggested a lack of confidence, going for the “safer” option of one of the new comprehensives. Her later achievements suggest that like Lynn, she could have done much more academically if given different expectations at primary age. I’m younger that these children and I certainly remember friends being deterred from grammar due to the hidden costs for their families, by being girls (so a waste of time spending time and money on qualifications) or minorities (obviously not university types).

None of the private school children or even middle class Neil had any doubts as to where they would fit in - they made choices to go to university or not. This is why schools having high expectations of all children matters so much. If the highest expectation of a child is “a job in the post office counters with a pension” then they are unlikely to do more.

If you had the A levels and the grades to apply there were means-tested grants. However the fight to get to that point was harder - something like 5% went to university and they were overwhelmingly white MCs, disproportionately male (more so for the more prestigious institutions).

The difference in self confidence and expectations of life between the wealthy and the poor children is very marked in the earlier episodes.

Yes sounded like you thought it had ended.

Have started rewatching from the beginning. 14 up is hilarious- they all look like they’re in front of a firing squad, painfully awkward (other than john and andrew who are almost the other extreme), then 21 up they’re all so grown up and loud and seem a lot older than i was/looked at that age.
I think it’s already been said but it does seem a high percentage of them had divorced parents for the time. I think all the private school kids? and paul and symon’s parents were not together.
I do think it would have been good to have had a bit more of a mix though, obviously more girls but also class wise. Technically 6 private school kids, then 6 working class kids. only Neil and Paul in the middle.
Andrew and John are so similar they merge into one for me in most of the earlier episodes.
It’s interesting how they all grow into their looks and how this changes over the years. I think Suzy looks stunning in her 30s and older. Neil really could have been a model at 21. I know it’s very superficial but i do find it an interesting part of it.

I hope the extra footage is stored somewhere for future use (or those longer documentaries). I imagine some isn’t used due to consent from third parties (which might be the case with Paul’s reunion with his mother) but there must be stacks of content there which makes for a fascinating bit of social history.

The physical ageing of the participants during the lifespan of the series has intrigued me as well. Suzy still looks great, in my view.

Totally agree. It makes me realise that in my 40s, it might not necessarily all be downhill from here. There are some very attractive faces in their 60s and 70s.

I'm 58 and still look great. Neck is a bit wrinkly but I'm ignoring it 😅
It's genetics with our females though.

Sorry hadn't seen your post but yes things arent perfect for us ND folk now but least we might reach awareness that it isnt our parents fault or our fault. The youtube program where all his interviews are combined is a hard watch as he looks to try to understand himself, how he got where he has and where he'd like to be.

just been watched 21 up
Neil quite bitter about his parents

the whole programme must be so cringy for them all