Credit: Ishan Seefrom
I’d been accepted to a place at Sussex University and had Reading as my insurance. All was going relatively smoothly but I’m one of those people that manages to tank essay exams or ace them. There’s little continuity in my exam approach (hence why I prefer essays in coursework which allow me time to ponder and scrap at will and with the time to breath) – either that or an exam full of equations (much easier). Looking back at it, I probably took the wrong A Levels.
After the rather large disappointment of results day and with little support from the school, I decided to go on something of a rebellion against education and abandon it entirely – deciding I’d instead use my Dad as a tutor to get to his level and hopefully surpass in a career working for Volkswagen, doing an apprenticeship earning £3.30/hour as a beginning.
This was quite painful for me because for a very long time – my aim in life, in fact my only aim since I was a small child, was to go to university. My mum had me at age 21 (a year younger than me now), halfway through a university degree at Brighton and so, the very idea of not going to university wasn’t really an option. It was the ultimate in my head for such a long time and letting it go was hard but at that age, I was in a “fuck it” mode.
We were on a beach in Brighton when the phone started ringing – four times in a row. I thought, who the hell wants to talk to me? “I’m busy – bugger off”. But as always, I eventually picked up the phone… this one was Lancaster University, offering me an unconditional offer to study a degree close to that I was supposed to take at Sussex – something around History and Politics. I wasn’t in a very good mood but, much like with any interview, I put on a voice and pretended to be cheerful… despite being in a mood of “go away mother”.
After the rather large disappointment of results day and with little support from the school, I decided to go on something of a rebellion against education and abandon it entirely – deciding I’d instead use my Dad as a tutor to get to his level and hopefully surpass in a career working for Volkswagen, doing an apprenticeship earning £3.30/hour as a beginning.
This was quite painful for me because for a very long time – my aim in life, in fact my only aim since I was a small child, was to go to university. My mum had me at age 21 (a year younger than me now), halfway through a university degree at Brighton and so, the very idea of not going to university wasn’t really an option. It was the ultimate in my head for such a long time and letting it go was hard but at that age, I was in a “fuck it” mode.
We were on a beach in Brighton when the phone started ringing – four times in a row. I thought, who the hell wants to talk to me? “I’m busy – bugger off”. But as always, I eventually picked up the phone… this one was Lancaster University, offering me an unconditional offer to study a degree close to that I was supposed to take at Sussex – something around History and Politics. I wasn’t in a very good mood but, much like with any interview, I put on a voice and pretended to be cheerful… despite being in a mood of “go away mother”.
Credit: Ben Guerin
This was one of two phone calls I had that day. The other was from De Montfort University (they decided to call themselves Leicester – rather underhand, especially as I have a massive hunch over Polytechnics and at this point rather obsessed with league tables). I accepted this offer as well. The wonderful thing about clearing is you can play the game, accept every offer informally, and then sit in a cool room, away from noise and distraction, and consider your life. Seems like a lot of pressure but it really puts you in control.
So, eventually I formed De Montfort as my firm choice and accepted their offer via the UCAS system, a system which makes me shudder to this day. I took Economics and Politics – probably one of the best decisions of my life, looking back now.
I decided to plough on with the apprenticeship and that I wasn’t going to go to University because, I was in a rebellion mode over education – had enough of constant books, teachers, and annoying exam questions that were so rigid – lacking in colour and individualism and free thought that you could only pass the exam with 6 particular points that were really just textbook bores. No one considers outside the box at A Level – the box is firm and easily climbed but you’ll be shot quickly. Don’t attempt to climb her boundaries and certainly don’t use French in a History exam – the system only speaks English and has limited intelligence and a special irritation of flare. Individualism is the enemy. I still got a C though…
Back to clearing however, the major point of this piece is to remind you, maybe going through clearing yourself or considering it as a route because your insurance choice is below par and you have better grades than expected, that you have options coming out of your ears. A Levels are built high. They’re designed as firm doors – opening but also tight shut but they’re also fairly unimportant once you have them.
There are ways around the torment of bad results – a gap year is something that I shall treasure for the rest of my life. Being poorly paid but also having money for the first time made me learn how to budget, save, and spend with care. I still take pride in that, I have £9,000 less debt than most University students do – because in that year prior to taking my deferred place, I saved enough to cover my living costs and all this with an alcohol budget of four figures. Don’t give up, keep pushing, and don’t take “no” for an answer – ever.
So, eventually I formed De Montfort as my firm choice and accepted their offer via the UCAS system, a system which makes me shudder to this day. I took Economics and Politics – probably one of the best decisions of my life, looking back now.
I decided to plough on with the apprenticeship and that I wasn’t going to go to University because, I was in a rebellion mode over education – had enough of constant books, teachers, and annoying exam questions that were so rigid – lacking in colour and individualism and free thought that you could only pass the exam with 6 particular points that were really just textbook bores. No one considers outside the box at A Level – the box is firm and easily climbed but you’ll be shot quickly. Don’t attempt to climb her boundaries and certainly don’t use French in a History exam – the system only speaks English and has limited intelligence and a special irritation of flare. Individualism is the enemy. I still got a C though…
Back to clearing however, the major point of this piece is to remind you, maybe going through clearing yourself or considering it as a route because your insurance choice is below par and you have better grades than expected, that you have options coming out of your ears. A Levels are built high. They’re designed as firm doors – opening but also tight shut but they’re also fairly unimportant once you have them.
There are ways around the torment of bad results – a gap year is something that I shall treasure for the rest of my life. Being poorly paid but also having money for the first time made me learn how to budget, save, and spend with care. I still take pride in that, I have £9,000 less debt than most University students do – because in that year prior to taking my deferred place, I saved enough to cover my living costs and all this with an alcohol budget of four figures. Don’t give up, keep pushing, and don’t take “no” for an answer – ever.
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