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More, largely tangental, thoughts about A-levels and Bar exams.
These things matter so much, because they matter so much. There are about 5 years or so in your late teens and early 20s, where the outcomes of a few events make an enormous difference to the rest of your life.
These things matter so much, because they matter so much. There are about 5 years or so in your late teens and early 20s, where the outcomes of a few events make an enormous difference to the rest of your life.
Thinking back to me own life: I chose to go to a community college for my A-levels rather than a more selective / academic option; went to university; made a mess of it; did some legal training and landed my job at FRU -- all in about six years.
The decisions and outcomes in those six years have, to a large extent, determined the last two decades of my life. There are, actually, only a couple of events since that have been as important.
Leaving aside the particular issues this year, there are two things I'm thinking about.
Any system where a small number of events in a short time is so important is going to be high variance (in other words, there is a lot of luck involved)
and...
Any system where a small number of events in a short time is so important is going to be high variance (in other words, there is a lot of luck involved)
and...
High variance systems, IMHO, make privilege (in all its forms) more significant. It makes it easier to enter that kind of lottery (because you know you'll be okay if you're unlucky) and it gives you more 2nd chances if you are unlucky.
To keep using myself as an example, when I made a mess of my degree, my family supported me (both emotionally and financially) while I did my legal training and, when I didn't get pupillage, they helped me hang around for a while until the cards fell my way at FRU.
Obviously, some of this inevitable. There will always be luck. But, I think, high variance systems in this context are basically a bad thing and we should be trying to make sure that everyone gets as many 2nd chances as we can.
This is something that I worry about at the Bar. When I first started, there were more pupillages and more people who didn't get tenancies at the end. This had its disadvantages, but two decisions meant less variance.
Before that, from what I hear, more people struggled in the early years of practice, in terms of getting work / building a career. Now (at least in areas I'm familiar with like employment) if you get pupillage, you normally get tenancy and its rare that you struggle for work.
Obviously this is not so say that people don't have career challenges and struggle, as we all do. But the key inflection point is obtaining pupillage (and where you get it). Rather than a series of decisions spread out over time -- pupillage, tenancy, early career.
I suspect this in turn has made A-levels and university outcomes more important -- because they're key to the pupillage decisions.
None of which is necessarily evil or wrong. But it does seem worrying that so much rides on what happens in such a limited time. And I do think that's become more acute in recent years. We should, IMHO, be trying to reverse course.
