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My favourite A-level – and how it shaped my life My favourite A-level – and how it shaped my life
(about 1 hour later)
Polly Toynbee: After I was arrested and expelled from Rhodesia, French couplets were hard to settle down toPolly Toynbee: After I was arrested and expelled from Rhodesia, French couplets were hard to settle down to
Open the envelope and there it was – failed French A-level. No one was surprised. I sat the exam after only a few weeks studying Racine, Corneille, Beaumarchais, Gide, Camus and Verlaine. I never stood a chance.Open the envelope and there it was – failed French A-level. No one was surprised. I sat the exam after only a few weeks studying Racine, Corneille, Beaumarchais, Gide, Camus and Verlaine. I never stood a chance.
I’d spent most of the year in what was then Rhodesia, working for Amnesty, listing the prisoners held in camps by Ian Smith under his breakaway apartheid government. How and why is another story, but after I was arrested and expelled, the classical couplets of Bajazet were hard to settle down to. And I didn’t.I’d spent most of the year in what was then Rhodesia, working for Amnesty, listing the prisoners held in camps by Ian Smith under his breakaway apartheid government. How and why is another story, but after I was arrested and expelled, the classical couplets of Bajazet were hard to settle down to. And I didn’t.
I thought I was done for, after a rebellious education of bad behaviour and failed exams – failed 11-plus, failed most O-levels, the black sheep my family didn’t expect to go to university.I thought I was done for, after a rebellious education of bad behaviour and failed exams – failed 11-plus, failed most O-levels, the black sheep my family didn’t expect to go to university.
It took just one great teacher, Mr Stedman Jones, head of English at Holland Park comprehensive, who was determined I would pass everything, and pass the Oxford exams too. By force of character and the infectious enthusiasm of his teaching he set me on my feet. He brought the set books to life – Lear and Hamlet, Peacock, Bacon, Spenser, Milton and more. But his private passion was Jacobean revenge tragedies: Jonson, Middleton, Beaumont and Fletcher. He immersed me in their dark world.It took just one great teacher, Mr Stedman Jones, head of English at Holland Park comprehensive, who was determined I would pass everything, and pass the Oxford exams too. By force of character and the infectious enthusiasm of his teaching he set me on my feet. He brought the set books to life – Lear and Hamlet, Peacock, Bacon, Spenser, Milton and more. But his private passion was Jacobean revenge tragedies: Jonson, Middleton, Beaumont and Fletcher. He immersed me in their dark world.
Alongside A-level, there was S-level, a far better paper. A-levels tried to catch you out on close textural study – but S-level invited you to spread your wings: show us what else you know, show us your best, not find out your worst. It was my chance to indulge in the romance of the Jacobeans.Alongside A-level, there was S-level, a far better paper. A-levels tried to catch you out on close textural study – but S-level invited you to spread your wings: show us what else you know, show us your best, not find out your worst. It was my chance to indulge in the romance of the Jacobeans.
I’m so grateful to Mr Stedman Jones, not just for pulling me through the necessary exams, including into Oxford, but because he left me with a love of all the books and plays he taught. Oddly, the failed French set-books stay with me too.I’m so grateful to Mr Stedman Jones, not just for pulling me through the necessary exams, including into Oxford, but because he left me with a love of all the books and plays he taught. Oddly, the failed French set-books stay with me too.
Fi Glover: My classical civilisation teacher taught me that if you are good at only one thing, make the most of thatFi Glover: My classical civilisation teacher taught me that if you are good at only one thing, make the most of that
By the time I got to take my A-levels I was bored at school and I was, under a cocky exterior, incredibly fearful about what would happen after school finished. I’m afraid those two things made for a queasy cocktail and resulted in very poor A-level results (a D and a no-show) in history and music.By the time I got to take my A-levels I was bored at school and I was, under a cocky exterior, incredibly fearful about what would happen after school finished. I’m afraid those two things made for a queasy cocktail and resulted in very poor A-level results (a D and a no-show) in history and music.
But then I also got a weird and wonderful A in classical civilisation, and that was all down to the quite brilliant Mrs Rankin. She loved her subject, took no prisoners when it came to criticism but praised the hell out of me when I got things right. I loved the way she connected what could have been dry and dusty texts to the modern world. She gave me a life-long love of watching the political process at work – and tied in a life-long fascination with what makes people tick and how people deal with circumstance and fate – which is what all the Greek tragedies are about.But then I also got a weird and wonderful A in classical civilisation, and that was all down to the quite brilliant Mrs Rankin. She loved her subject, took no prisoners when it came to criticism but praised the hell out of me when I got things right. I loved the way she connected what could have been dry and dusty texts to the modern world. She gave me a life-long love of watching the political process at work – and tied in a life-long fascination with what makes people tick and how people deal with circumstance and fate – which is what all the Greek tragedies are about.
I owe Mrs Rankin a huge amount because she taught me that if you are good at only one thing, then why not make sure you make the most of that? She also told me to get to a place where I was more stimulated. I did – eventually – and I owe her a lot for simply taking the time to say that.I owe Mrs Rankin a huge amount because she taught me that if you are good at only one thing, then why not make sure you make the most of that? She also told me to get to a place where I was more stimulated. I did – eventually – and I owe her a lot for simply taking the time to say that.
Lola Okolosie: English A-level made me realise the subject wasn’t wishy-washy, but had real biteLola Okolosie: English A-level made me realise the subject wasn’t wishy-washy, but had real bite
At the time I did my A-levels I harboured a secret ambition to become a writer. I didn’t really think this was realistic or possible – how did one become one? And, well, I’d been told it wasn’t a proper job. So, though I hadn’t a clue about anything more achievable I wanted to become in life, I knew I loved reading and playing with words. English A-level it was.At the time I did my A-levels I harboured a secret ambition to become a writer. I didn’t really think this was realistic or possible – how did one become one? And, well, I’d been told it wasn’t a proper job. So, though I hadn’t a clue about anything more achievable I wanted to become in life, I knew I loved reading and playing with words. English A-level it was.
There are clear ways that doing the subject shaped me; the most obvious being that my professional life involves being a secondary school English teacher and a writer. But the A-level also influenced my political analysis. I was shown that works could be read for their political underpinnings rather than the simple beauty of prose or poetry. With this realisation, English was transformed from being a vaguely wishy-washy subject to something with real bite, and my love deepened. Studying James Joyce’s Dubliners or Alice Walker’s The Color Purple proved that literature could connect with people’s lived realities. The way literature could reach across gender, race, class and nationality gave it a radical potential that was the reason I opted to take it at university, instead of sociology (which I also loved).There are clear ways that doing the subject shaped me; the most obvious being that my professional life involves being a secondary school English teacher and a writer. But the A-level also influenced my political analysis. I was shown that works could be read for their political underpinnings rather than the simple beauty of prose or poetry. With this realisation, English was transformed from being a vaguely wishy-washy subject to something with real bite, and my love deepened. Studying James Joyce’s Dubliners or Alice Walker’s The Color Purple proved that literature could connect with people’s lived realities. The way literature could reach across gender, race, class and nationality gave it a radical potential that was the reason I opted to take it at university, instead of sociology (which I also loved).
Now, as a teacher, I’m always excited to uncover the political frame/message of any literary text with my students, however young they are. It is one of the best parts of my work. Their excitement at engaging with a work, uncovering its different meanings, is never dull: this is why I picked English A-level and loved it.Now, as a teacher, I’m always excited to uncover the political frame/message of any literary text with my students, however young they are. It is one of the best parts of my work. Their excitement at engaging with a work, uncovering its different meanings, is never dull: this is why I picked English A-level and loved it.
Philip Hoare: My favourite A-level was the one I never took – artPhilip Hoare: My favourite A-level was the one I never took – art
Today my niece Lydia will receive the results that will determine her life. Forty years ago I had no idea I was in the same position. Although my choice of A-levels – English, history and geography – would reflect my subsequent career as a writer, my marks certainly didn’t. I got an E for English.Today my niece Lydia will receive the results that will determine her life. Forty years ago I had no idea I was in the same position. Although my choice of A-levels – English, history and geography – would reflect my subsequent career as a writer, my marks certainly didn’t. I got an E for English.
I’d really wanted to take art, but was disabused of that ambition. What use would it be? (I now realise that my fixation with David Bowie was worrying my parents, along with my propensity for outrageous costumes assembled from jumble sales.) Nor was there any outlet in my provincial education – albeit in a somewhat gothic Catholic establishment – for the kind of artistic expression on which I have since built the somewhat shaky foundations of my adult life. I was certainly not directed by my teachers, with the exception of my English master, a harried-looking man, later to take his own life, who introduced us to Wilfred Owen. He opened my eyes to the power of words, but I got my real education through Bowie’s lyrics and punk rock.I’d really wanted to take art, but was disabused of that ambition. What use would it be? (I now realise that my fixation with David Bowie was worrying my parents, along with my propensity for outrageous costumes assembled from jumble sales.) Nor was there any outlet in my provincial education – albeit in a somewhat gothic Catholic establishment – for the kind of artistic expression on which I have since built the somewhat shaky foundations of my adult life. I was certainly not directed by my teachers, with the exception of my English master, a harried-looking man, later to take his own life, who introduced us to Wilfred Owen. He opened my eyes to the power of words, but I got my real education through Bowie’s lyrics and punk rock.
Last month, I took Lydia to the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty show at the V&A. She spent two hours there, looking at every item with an extraordinary intensity: I could see her love of art and fashion being visually fed. In an educational system in which the arts are increasingly sidelined, I worry about the limitations A-levels impose on young ambitions – especially the way in which they perpetuate the disastrous divide between arts and sciences. Will Lydia’s results really reflect what she chooses to do with her life, or will this stylish young woman find her own Bowie or McQueen? I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her today – on all counts.Last month, I took Lydia to the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty show at the V&A. She spent two hours there, looking at every item with an extraordinary intensity: I could see her love of art and fashion being visually fed. In an educational system in which the arts are increasingly sidelined, I worry about the limitations A-levels impose on young ambitions – especially the way in which they perpetuate the disastrous divide between arts and sciences. Will Lydia’s results really reflect what she chooses to do with her life, or will this stylish young woman find her own Bowie or McQueen? I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her today – on all counts.
Bidisha: I had fabulous, inspirational Spanish A-level teachers – I feel intense regret about having let my language skills lapse
I have the same dream every week. I’m the age I am now, in my thirties. I’m at school, in school uniform. I’m late for Spanish A-level but the numbers above the classroom doors are blurred and I can’t find the right one.
This nightmare reflects the intense regret I feel about letting my language skills lapse. I had great Spanish A-level teachers, including one senora from the UK who told us, “When I went to Spain, in the sixties, I’d walk down the streets in my miniskirt and women would come out of the houses and look at me and cross themselves and call me a whore and pray.”
Then there was fabulous, inspirational senora Fanning, who introduced us to Lorca’s plays and Almodóvar’s films. Anyone who comes from a recently migratory background is good at languages; that portion of our brain is primed for it. But it only takes 90 days to forget a language, for your tongue to go blunt and the words to dissolve through lack of practice. I forgot Spanish, French, Italian and Bengali that way. I never learned Chinese when I lived in Beijing last year. After my A-levels I let my grammar-studying rigour and application fall by the wayside, out of laziness.
Languages should be learned by all, not to facilitate further library study but to enable communication and open doors between people. When I first suggested Spanish A-level to my editor for this piece, she replied, “Great! Nobody’s chosen a language as their favourite A-level yet.” I said: “And that is the problem with England.”
Philippa Perry: I found psychology A-level rather dry – it missed out the subtleties of what it is to be humanPhilippa Perry: I found psychology A-level rather dry – it missed out the subtleties of what it is to be human
The old-fashioned boarding school I went to only judged me on my spelling, which was, and is, atrocious. As a result, I wasn’t expected to obtain any O-levels. But the examination board may have been more enlightened about how they marked papers – to everyone’s surprise I left school with nine.The old-fashioned boarding school I went to only judged me on my spelling, which was, and is, atrocious. As a result, I wasn’t expected to obtain any O-levels. But the examination board may have been more enlightened about how they marked papers – to everyone’s surprise I left school with nine.
After a stint as a lowly clerk in a solicitors’ office, I started my own business tracing debtors and serving court process papers. It was as an adult that I enrolled at a state college of further education and took A-levels. I wasn’t continuing in education with an eye on any future career development; I enrolled at the college more from wanting something to do. While working full-time I did psychology, history, art and English literature A-levels as a hobby.After a stint as a lowly clerk in a solicitors’ office, I started my own business tracing debtors and serving court process papers. It was as an adult that I enrolled at a state college of further education and took A-levels. I wasn’t continuing in education with an eye on any future career development; I enrolled at the college more from wanting something to do. While working full-time I did psychology, history, art and English literature A-levels as a hobby.
It was English I found particularly inspiring. I learnt to appreciate poetry, Shakespeare and fiction, and it was studying these, rather than psychology, that piqued my interest in human nature, not least my own. I’m a psychotherapist now, but I found the psychology A-level rather dry: the subject seemed to be trying too hard to be a science, missing out on the subtleties of what it is to be human. I found it rather a chore. Learning about studies such as the Milgram experiment, Harlow’s monkeys and the Stanford prison experiment were instructive but the ethics of the experimenters probably put me off continuing with psychology for a while, as did having to tackle statistics.It was English I found particularly inspiring. I learnt to appreciate poetry, Shakespeare and fiction, and it was studying these, rather than psychology, that piqued my interest in human nature, not least my own. I’m a psychotherapist now, but I found the psychology A-level rather dry: the subject seemed to be trying too hard to be a science, missing out on the subtleties of what it is to be human. I found it rather a chore. Learning about studies such as the Milgram experiment, Harlow’s monkeys and the Stanford prison experiment were instructive but the ethics of the experimenters probably put me off continuing with psychology for a while, as did having to tackle statistics.
Doing further education as an adult, while working, meant that I was quite a slow starter and I didn’t get my degree in fine art until I was in my 30s. I didn’t qualify as a therapist until I was in my 40s. I am angry that my early educators were dismissive of me, because I would have liked to have done A-levels and gone to university when everyone else did. I’ll always be grateful I had opportunities to study as an adult.Doing further education as an adult, while working, meant that I was quite a slow starter and I didn’t get my degree in fine art until I was in my 30s. I didn’t qualify as a therapist until I was in my 40s. I am angry that my early educators were dismissive of me, because I would have liked to have done A-levels and gone to university when everyone else did. I’ll always be grateful I had opportunities to study as an adult.
Rupert Myers: The rules of physics were a useful introduction for a career as a barristerRupert Myers: The rules of physics were a useful introduction for a career as a barrister
Physics combined the creativity and analytical rigour that has been most useful in my career at the bar. The rules of thermodynamics and the laws of physics, both classical and the peculiar oddities of quantum behaviour, were fascinating to read about and memorable to see in observable experiments. I cheated by doing lots of mathematics and economics too, so the calculations didn’t seem that taxing back then, but the learning of so many rules was a useful introduction to my career as a barrister.Physics combined the creativity and analytical rigour that has been most useful in my career at the bar. The rules of thermodynamics and the laws of physics, both classical and the peculiar oddities of quantum behaviour, were fascinating to read about and memorable to see in observable experiments. I cheated by doing lots of mathematics and economics too, so the calculations didn’t seem that taxing back then, but the learning of so many rules was a useful introduction to my career as a barrister.
The greatest joy of physics was in the coursework, and the scope for practical experimentation. I made a device within a Helmholtz coil to measure magnetic fields with lasers, I researched concert hall acoustics, and having found some Russian doctoral work on the internet, I studied the drag coefficients of parachutes, filming them falling through clouds of smoke to observe the aerodynamics.The greatest joy of physics was in the coursework, and the scope for practical experimentation. I made a device within a Helmholtz coil to measure magnetic fields with lasers, I researched concert hall acoustics, and having found some Russian doctoral work on the internet, I studied the drag coefficients of parachutes, filming them falling through clouds of smoke to observe the aerodynamics.
Physics is the study of fundamentals, and their application to the world. In that sense, it is the same as law. In practice, the benefit of my study of physics is that it helped broaden the range of analytical tools with which a problem can be approached. Of course English literature helped with the written and oral advocacy, but physics helped sharpen my mind for the intricacies of unusual fields that lawyers often have to understand when dealing with cases, from biomass generator construction to financial malpractice. Physics imbues an understanding of mathematics in a practical environment, a stronger grasp of the fundamentals of science, and a confidence that tasks can be broken into achievable constituent elements.Physics is the study of fundamentals, and their application to the world. In that sense, it is the same as law. In practice, the benefit of my study of physics is that it helped broaden the range of analytical tools with which a problem can be approached. Of course English literature helped with the written and oral advocacy, but physics helped sharpen my mind for the intricacies of unusual fields that lawyers often have to understand when dealing with cases, from biomass generator construction to financial malpractice. Physics imbues an understanding of mathematics in a practical environment, a stronger grasp of the fundamentals of science, and a confidence that tasks can be broken into achievable constituent elements.
Joseph Harker: A scientific background helps in understanding the world around usJoseph Harker: A scientific background helps in understanding the world around us
My favourite A-level? None of ’em. After getting decent O-level grades I went with the one piece of careers advice I’d heard, which was that the best jobs were “working in industry”. I had no clue what possible jobs an arts qualification could lead to. So I dropped the language subjects I’d always preferred, and took up physics, chemistry and maths, with further maths thrown in for extra masochism. It was not until I went to university for my engineering degree, and met students on courses that actually sounded interesting – politics, law, sociology – that I realised my mistake.My favourite A-level? None of ’em. After getting decent O-level grades I went with the one piece of careers advice I’d heard, which was that the best jobs were “working in industry”. I had no clue what possible jobs an arts qualification could lead to. So I dropped the language subjects I’d always preferred, and took up physics, chemistry and maths, with further maths thrown in for extra masochism. It was not until I went to university for my engineering degree, and met students on courses that actually sounded interesting – politics, law, sociology – that I realised my mistake.
There is something to be said about having a scientific background, though: it definitely helps in understanding the world around us, and feeds into some meaty debates such as religion – where it’s clear that many atheists have little knowledge of science yet an almost god-like belief it can answer all the big questions (Richard Dawkins as the new messiah).There is something to be said about having a scientific background, though: it definitely helps in understanding the world around us, and feeds into some meaty debates such as religion – where it’s clear that many atheists have little knowledge of science yet an almost god-like belief it can answer all the big questions (Richard Dawkins as the new messiah).
But maths, more than any other subject, has benefited me: in interpreting statistics (crucial for a journalist); in working out the cheapest item on the supermarket shelf; or in predicting where Arsenal will be in the table if they win/lose/draw their next game. It also helped me get to the end of A Brief History of Time (though don’t ask me to explain it), and to semi-understand the theory of why E=mc2.But maths, more than any other subject, has benefited me: in interpreting statistics (crucial for a journalist); in working out the cheapest item on the supermarket shelf; or in predicting where Arsenal will be in the table if they win/lose/draw their next game. It also helped me get to the end of A Brief History of Time (though don’t ask me to explain it), and to semi-understand the theory of why E=mc2.
Were I to relive the hell of A-level study again, it’s the one subject I’d definitely repeat.Were I to relive the hell of A-level study again, it’s the one subject I’d definitely repeat.