Congratulations ....

Merve, you tend to use that 'having a go' comment on folk who have an alternative opinion to yours. I see it as healthy. My opinion differs to yours, it most probably always will. I enjoy counter opinions, I certainly don't take them personally nor get upset. Yes we are different, rejoice in that

Education is always a provocative subject because everyone has experienced it. 

Merve - I certainly wasn't offended by your comments on my own behalf, just disappointed to see the annual disparagement of hard working student's achievements, but then I'm not really sure, having read all your posts, who or what it is you're criticising - students? teachers? universities? polys? politicians? You seem to swing from one to another with ease.

A lot of your points have been answered by others, but just to pick up on your question about clearing centres - that system was  around when I was applying for uni almost 50 years ago now, so no modern day spawn of the devil!

+1

Clearing is simply to match up those students who didn't get in to their chosen university and are marched up with a course still not full at another. It is certainly not for low ability students to match them with any old university. Usually it is someone who needed grades (say) A B B and 'only' obtained A B D. For the those popular universities and courses this is often the case of asking for high grades. For Medicine it will be straight A*. My own GP, (my age) says he would now not get in to university with his own A levels grades.

A report done a few years ago showed that success at A level wasn't that good a predictor of success at degree level. And there was certainly no correlation between those that went through clearing and those that didn't in terms of final degree awarded.

I find it a shame that whatever the background a thread posted to congratulate and celebrate achievement now, could not be kept up in that manner.