Plummeting standards.

In 1999, a pupil of mine who had studied and failed the two GCSE subjects I taught him also managed to fail every other subject.
He was simply incapable of academic work. The thought that he would, in future, take 'A' Levels was laughable.
The last time I met this very decent young man, he was just completing his university degree!
There will be those who will naively assure us that this is a triumph for a system which rescues the 'late developers'. It is not. It is something far more dangerous - a system which has been so downgraded as to make a degree utterly worthless.
What else can you expect? When I went to university in 1970, I was one of about 5% to go and the state could afford to fund every student worthy of a place.
With 43% now going - and 50% as the target - degrees inevitably became massively downgraded and at a lunch, I put this to former Fisheries Minister, Eliot Morley, who accused me of being "an elitist".
I immediately shrank away in horror to learn what I was. I suffered profound mental trauma. I lost sleep at night. I felt ashamed; humiliated; belittled; anti-social. I hurt inside. What a cruel and dreadful thing to be called - a member of Her Majesty's Government had effectively accused me of being somebody who believes in quality and excellence. My shame is ongoing to this very day.