The current A-level result fiasco in the UK is disgusting. It is especially hard for those who are not in a financial position to simply retake them next year. Given the current job market, postponing university for many would mean either sponging of parents or claiming welfare. Having said that, in principle there is no reason why a person needs to go to university at 18. Someone who starts a course at age 25 still has a long life ahead of them to succeed in their chosen profession. However, that should be their choice, not a choice that was taken away by an unfair grade. Yet even a fair grade (one that accurately record the standard obtained) should not be viewed as a life sentence or an measure of intelligence. You could still reach the desired standard.

Many moons ago I overheard a conversation between teenagers sat behind me on a bus. One girl was quite distraught, trying to explain to her friends that if she did not achieve the required grades then her life was over. I wanted to turn around and tell her that I quit school at 16 with no qualifications, and at age 30 was now a fully funded PhD student. But the bus was at my stop and I am not brave enough to engage strangers on a bus.

The words of that teenager on the bus stuck with me. This mentality is too common – this inaccurate belief that exam grades are an intrinsic measure of worth or potential. There are many reasons why a person might fail to reach a certain standard that have nothing to do with intellect. However, the assumption is nearly always that someone with a lower grade is intellectually less capable than someone with a higher grade. I agree that the former is not up to the required standard, and maintain that standards are important. What I disagree with is this ‘you only get one chance’ mentality. Society had already ingrained into that girl on the bus the belief that if she did not get into college that year, then she was doomed to a life of ‘second bests’ or alternatives to her dream.

This notion that you only get once chance in life and that decisions made when you are young are irreversible is unhealthy. Despite this, many people break the mould. Some change careers and/or train for new professions in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond. Some people take a ‘year out’ to go travelling at 45. Others go to university after retirement. You do not have to live your life before you hit 30, and it is sad that people get so scared about ‘gaps’ on their CV that cannot be explained away as parenting leave.

I am currently fighting against the dominant social attitude that 46 is too late to start over. Despite being willing to start at the bottom, I feel the constant push towards higher paying positions that I am qualified to do but would hate. I am told too often that I am too old to change anything. This is not the first time I have experienced this. In my mid-twenties I met with a career advisor for information about getting into university. Long story short, I walked out with a brochure for a hairdressing course! No disrespect to the hairdressing profession on my part, but I was told that I was not clever enough for university (based on my having left school at 16 with no qualifications) and too old (did I mention I was 24 at that time?). The counsellor felt that, even in the ‘unlikely event’ of me earning a place at a university, it would be a waste of education because I’d be almost 30 and probably wanting to settle down and have children. These days the world is a little less sexist, but it is still very much ageist and judgemental of past failures.