I'd tweet smth about the A level situation but I'm genuinely just flipping between utterly heartbroken and seething rage. I know Boris and his ilk wanted to keep people like me out, I at least managed to fight my way to A level results that they had to honour at Oxford.

My "hustle and grind" was googling which state sixth forms in the country had the highest % admission to top unis and literally moving out to live on my own at 16 so I could attend my top choice. It was scary, I was vulnerable, and I was abused in my situation 2/

(Note: being at home was definitely not better but thats a different story of abuse haha)

Not only should no LITERAL CHILD have to put themselves in that situation - what do you think would happen if every poor first gen immigrant from East London decided to apply to that school? Do you think it would still keep it's results up? 3/

Or do you think the powers that be would ensure the fundings change, that it gets classed differently, that it becomes a scandal? The parents of the affluent white children who sent their kids there after cushy private secondary education, what would they do? 4/

"Chin up, grind, work hard, you'll make it" only works if you assume you're a singular special case working hard, and specifically relies on the majority of people like you failing TO KEEP ON FAILING. 5/

It's a classical oppression/division idk technique that I'm sure has a name someone smarter than me knows. You don't question how you're kept down, you turn on your own convinced they just don't work hard enough bc thats what validates you 6/

I still hear it too, people expect me to be pro The System bc I succeeded in it! No!! I succeeded despite it!!! Loads of people deserve it ahead of me!!! 7/

But my original point - even in this fucked up system, I managed to game part of it to get myself to where I am. That relied on A levels and Oxford admissions having some rules I could play by. Note these rules were fought for - women weren't even admitted at my college til 1979

Downgraded A level results aren't a chance for "chin up, work hard, grind"; it's a devastating blow in a fight the poor/the working class/the disabled/people of colour were already losing. [END THREAD]