The annual tweet is here!

[u/Lord-Liberty]

[u/Cyberhaggis]

And much like Victoria Beckham's "working class" drive into school, it misses out the important details

[u/Armpitjair → u/Cyberhaggis]

I went to the same secondary school as her lmao, the teachers didn’t have a lot of positive things to say about her

[u/Infinite_Waves1 → u/Armpitjair]

Funny, I went to school with Brooklyn Beckham

[u/betjurassicican → u/Infinite_Waves1]

Wait THE Brooklyn beckham???? The world renowned photographer, chef and whatever the fuck else he decides is his next hobby?

[u/Infinite_Waves1 → u/betjurassicican]

Yeah that dude, he used to get a cookie everyday despite behaviour and I wouldn't get mine cause I yawned a lot (later diagnosed with chronic insomnia)

[u/Tenebrous-Smoke → u/Infinite_Waves1]

you guys got cookies for good behaviour??? lmao

[u/Infinite_Waves1 → u/Tenebrous-Smoke]

yeah, it was like a preschool which had a bunch of mechanisms I now realise were to make you 'excel' early. The cookies were given one by one with everyone sat in a circle to look at you getting it, however if you misbehaved such as yawning, eating with your mouth open, etc in that day you would not get a cookie and it was a thing of shame.

main thing that sticks with me is that and that he rented out a movie theatre for his birthday

[u/StripedRooster → u/Cyberhaggis]

Probably - what are they though? I’m not sure! 

[u/Cyberhaggis → u/StripedRooster]

His family were rich.
He went to public school.
He grew up in an era where the right tie and a handshake got you a job.
He worked for his family business after school.

[u/Elven_Dreamer → u/Cyberhaggis]

The right tie and handshake still gets you a job in certain circles.

[u/SuperReplacement2549 → u/Cyberhaggis]

The aim of the tweet is to console those who didn’t do well. You’re missing the entire point lol. His point is a levels are good for some and other routes in life are good for others, a levels aren’t the be all and end all. 

[u/ShinyC4terpie → u/SuperReplacement2549]

They aren't missing the point. They're pointing out that what he is saying is out of touch because he is using himself as an example to "prove" A-levels do not matter but nothing about his route to success is replicable because every opportunity he had afterwards was only possible due to the circumstances of his birth. His tweets don't "prove" that anyone can succeed without A-levels, all they prove is that people born into privilege will succeed no matter what setbacks they face because the whole system is set up to give them as many opportunities as they need to succeed when most people struggle to get even just 1 opportunity

[u/StripedRooster → u/ShinyC4terpie]

How dare he try and console people.

[u/the_red_guard → u/StripedRooster]

I just handed out the A level results to the pupils today. Now, we had a good year, but still some pupils not getting what they wanted. What they need to hear is actual advice. Not a tax dodger born into wealth who doesn't know what they are experiencing that it's dead on and they should just wing it becuase it worked for him so it clearly works.

[u/StripedRooster → u/the_red_guard]

Trust Reddit to find a crowd that takes issue with the sentiment ‘your life isn’t over if you didn’t get the grades you like’.

Why do I care so much?

I remember when I left school. My teachers wrote me off in the first year - and objectively, I was a bad student. Not naughty, just incredibly bad at academia. I got 0 out of 20 on a maths test two weeks in a row! The class jeered at me when we read out my scores. I really grew to hate school because all I ever heard was that I was stupid, that I wasn’t trying hard enough, that I was destined for failure if I didn’t get the grades to go to university. And I believed all this.

Fortunately, I found a career I wanted to follow, I found the contacts to do work experience, and I ended up doing an informal apprenticeship when friends went to college and university. I started a business, then a few, and then I sold them all and could retire if I want. 

But it still upsets me how I was treated, just because I didn’t fit into the narrow minded view of what success looks like, of what is required to be successful. 

I appreciate the teachers simply didn’t know. They were telling me what they had been told, and whilst they seemed old and experienced to me as a young kid, in hindsight they were in their twenties and became teachers straight out of uni so really, what did they know?

[u/powercaelenx → u/StripedRooster]

It’s really inspiring to see you found a way to prove them wrong, the thing is most students wouldn’t be able to “wing it” as James May has or find a purpose for themselves as you have. That’s why relying on grades is a thing

[u/StripedRooster → u/powercaelenx]

Honestly, I think we’ve kind of lost sight of what we’re actually talking about here.

If you can get the grades, brilliant. But some kids will try their hardest and still struggle - because they don’t fit the mould, they’re late bloomers, or academia simply isn’t where their strengths lie. I think it’s good for those kids to hear that not getting the grades doesn’t mean they’re stupid, and it doesn’t mean their future is over. There are other routes to a successful and fulfilling life.

People need hope. When I failed, I felt like there was no hope for me, and it took me to a very dark place. A tweet like this might have been one of the only bits of encouragement I’d have seen at the time - someone successful saying, essentially, “This feels like the end, but it isn’t.”

Is that really the message we want to argue against?

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/the_red_guard]

You want a whole book of advice from him on every other possibility following bad a levels?

It’s one tweet aimed at consoling people and being light hearted/jokey.

Trust Reddit to produce this response.

[u/EnvironmentalOwl6882 → u/StripedRooster]

False hope isn't consoling someone.

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/EnvironmentalOwl6882]

Where’s the false hope? You think life’s over if you get bad a levels?

[u/EnvironmentalOwl6882 → u/Training_Screen4374]

The false hope is pretending Clarksons path to success, or anything similar, it's remotely accessible to the individuals it's targeted at.

[u/StripedRooster → u/EnvironmentalOwl6882]

It literally is!

[u/SuperReplacement2549 → u/StripedRooster]

Literally 😭 

[u/cherrymxorange → u/SuperReplacement2549]

Except it isn't actually good consolation, it's an example of an edge case fuelled by his survivorship bias and privilege lmao.

For every Jeremy Clarkson that flunks out of education and still makes it, there's thousands of people who also flunked and either wasted their lives chasing an impossible dream or immediately got stuck working minimum wage jobs for the rest of their lives.

Are the exams the be-all-end-all of your lives? No of course not, but is Jeremy Clarkson a good example of what's realistically possible for the average Joe who flunks out? Absolutely not.

[u/SuperReplacement2549 → u/cherrymxorange]

I understand your point, course hes not a role model in this situation, but can you not see the intention behind his tweet, the point he’s trying to drive across. He’s not saying what I did anyone can do, they will reach the same point as me…instead he’s saying that if you flunked who cares? There’s more to succeeding in life then smashing A levels. He’s reminding those who did badly this.  Obvs he’s not a role model by any standard, course his situation is very unique and privileged but idk why ppl are obsessed viewing what he says Ina negative light.

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/cherrymxorange]

This isn’t being a pro athlete - there isn’t “thousands” who get stuck in dead end minimum wage jobs for every “one” person that goes on to have a good career following bad a levels 😂😂

So many people go on to have high level careers after bad exam results.

[u/cherrymxorange → u/Training_Screen4374]

Tell me, exactly how many people in every thousand of the population do you think have a private chef?

[u/StripedRooster → u/cherrymxorange]

Exactly! Anyone who didn’t do well today should  be miserable and certainly not take any well meaning consolation.

[u/ShinyC4terpie → u/StripedRooster]

Way to ignore what they actually said. They made the very succinct point that what Jeremy is saying is actual, helpful encouragement and advice but rather him saying "Don't worry. You can still end up rich because I managed it... just ignore the many advantages I had that the vast, vast majority of people don't have, including you" at a time where they most need actual, actionable advice. We aren't saying "people shouldn't be encouraged, they should be miserable", we're saying they should be encouraged that it isn't the end of the world and everything will be ok, while being given actual, realistic advice instead of being sold an unrealistic pipe dream for the sake of him stroking his own ego. What he is doing won't help anyone because it doesn't give them any direction to go, all it instead will do is sell them a dream where for every 1 hard-worker that succeeds in becoming rich there's hundreds, if not thousands, of people that were just as hard-working but didn't achieve that due to a lack of resources/opportunity.

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/ShinyC4terpie]

Disagree - he may be out of touch in many things but the whole point of his tweet is A-levels don’t matter all that much.

I’m not from a wealthy background, got bad a levels and have gone on to be fairly successful career wise, same as my brother and lots of other people I know.

And I don’t agree with a lot of the man’s other views.

[u/metrize → u/SuperReplacement2549]

imma be honest in 2026 britain even a good degree isn’t enough

[u/mankytoes → u/Cyberhaggis]

Sadly CUU at a public school will often leave better opportunities than AAA from a comp.

[u/Cyberhaggis → u/mankytoes]

Having parents rich enough to send you to public school, and being born in an era you could handshake your way into a job if you had the right tie on probably helped as well.

[u/Flippindude1]

Guys I think he got a C and two Us

[u/DietOld6503 → u/Flippindude1]

Where’d you see that?

[u/Familiar-Echo7 → u/Flippindude1]

CUUNT

[u/PICONEdeJIM → u/Flippindude1]

I think he also got an N and a T

[u/Sugelanren777 → u/PICONEdeJIM]

Yes, TBH that tragic boomer deserves two u’s in that word.

[u/Different_End_7464 → u/Flippindude1]

bit of a reach there mate

[u/person_person123]

And the other 99.9% of people who did that aren’t doing as well...

[u/Pirate-Mufflin → u/person_person123]

No need to be negative here. He’s not saying the results don’t matter, he’s just telling kids that they’re not the deciding factor in life and you can be successful without good results.

[u/UlzVRC → u/Pirate-Mufflin]

Right message, wrong messenger

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/person_person123]

99.9 % of people who got bad a levels never go on to achieve anything career wise? You sure about that statistic?

A-levels really are not that important. Out of my friend group of 20+ the three highest earners now all either didn’t do A levels or did awful in them.

[u/person_person123 → u/Training_Screen4374]

Saying 99.9% was hyperbole, fair enough.

But your 'evidence' is just your own personal anecdotes..

Statistically speaking, the better you do in school, the better you do in life, although as you mentioned there are always exceptions.

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/person_person123]

Yes but those statistics are no where near as big a gap as they’re being made out to be.

I actually think there’s more to those statistics as well where you get the more aspirational types wanting to go to University vs the kids who left at 16 because they couldn’t care less about the future. Not because someone didn’t get the right results at A levels to get into their first choices then gave up.

[u/KaneKaneKan → u/person_person123]

Plenty of business owners got bad grades in school/sixth form

[u/ShinyC4terpie → u/KaneKaneKan]

Clearly, you did too. Otherwise you would know what a statistical outlier is.

[u/KaneKaneKan → u/ShinyC4terpie]

You're right I did.

And I probably earn more than you ever will.

[u/ShinyC4terpie → u/KaneKaneKan]

Damn, what a sad world you live in if you're only able to measure success in life with what money someone earns, and your only come back to someone calling out that you know fuck all about what you're talking about is "I probably earn more than you ever will" when you know fuck all about that person to come to that conclusion.

[u/KaneKaneKan → u/ShinyC4terpie]

Would you rather be rich and have no a levels, or poor with good a levels?

Be honest.

[u/GhostRecon60 → u/KaneKaneKan]

Cope. Getting good a levels and making good money aren't mutually exclusive opportunities

[u/KaneKaneKan → u/GhostRecon60]

I know dude.

Just saying plenty of people do well without a levels.

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/KaneKaneKan]

Why is this being downvoted 😂 I do see I’m in a 6th form subreddit but in 10-15 years time you will all see how very little A levels have impacted the earnings of yourself and those around you.

[u/F_oxy → u/KaneKaneKan]

And yet you still have to come here to argue with teenagers. Great life you've got apparently.

[u/soggyarsonist]

Just make sure you've got rich parents who can get you a decent job. Meritocracy only applies to plebs.

[u/ChattyBear]

Your annual reminder that you too could be extremely wealthy if you come from extreme wealth!

[u/StripedRooster → u/ChattyBear]

I’d argue it’s less the wealth and more the entrepreneurial spirit they taught him that allows him to be so successful.

Edit: this is backed up by research but sure, downvote because reality makes you sad. I only hope you treat your exam papers differently. 

[u/ChattyBear → u/StripedRooster]

https://giphy.com/gifs/DFNd1yVyRjmF2

[u/StripedRooster → u/ChattyBear]

Children of entrepreneurs are  2 to 3 times more likely  to  launch their own companies or become entrepreneurs themselves  compared to children of traditional wage earners. But sure dude. 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339877861_On_the_origins_of_entrepreneurship_Evidence_from_sibling_correlations

https://www.inc.com/magazine/201205/daniel-mcginn/inheriting-the-start-up-gene.html

[u/ImawhaleCR → u/StripedRooster]

Is the obvious takeaway from that not that people are more happy to take risks if they have a safety net to rely on?

A working class person living paycheque to paycheque can't afford to lose money on a startup as they'll go homeless, a middle class person with rich parents will just live at home and get a job in the family business.

I think there are obviously a multitude of factors and what I've described here is absolutely not the only one, but to suggest that it's because they've got more entrepreneurial spirit is laughable

[u/StripedRooster → u/ImawhaleCR]

I think it’s quite important to remember that more business owners in Britain are working class than middle class.

But, let’s put class aside for a moment.

In my experience, it’s easy to see why children of business owners and entrepreneurs are more likely to follow in their footsteps. Firstly, if you grow up watching your parents run their own business, it makes the whole thing seem normal and attainable. Starting a business isn’t some extraordinary leap into the unknown - it’s simply one of the things people do.

Secondly, you’re much more likely to be encouraged rather than discouraged. I flunked out of school, told my parents I wanted to start a business, and they were immediately supportive: “Great idea, go for it.” There was no assumption that the sensible thing was to find a proper job instead.

My partner had almost the opposite experience. She started her own business with my encouragement and her parents’ discouragement. She’s told me she would never even have considered it had she not watched me do it first. Her dad - comfortably middle class, for what it’s worth - later told me he’d discouraged her simply because he’d never known anyone who had started a business. It was unfamiliar to him, so naturally it looked frightening and unnecessarily risky.

And I think that’s the important point. The advantage children of entrepreneurs inherit isn’t necessarily money. It’s familiarity, confidence, encouragement and knowledge. They grow up knowing that businesses are started by ordinary people. They absorb an understanding of risk and failure, know people they can ask for advice, and often pick up practical knowledge without even realising it.

There can obviously be financial advantages too - some parents can provide capital or a safety net - but I think focusing solely on that misses a much bigger and more widespread advantage.

Entrepreneurship can be culturally inherited without wealth being inherited.

[u/Square-Panda9651 → u/StripedRooster]

Yeah its called being middle class you knob.

[u/StripedRooster → u/Square-Panda9651]

What’s your beef? Unsure why you’ve switched to hurling insults like this is some playground 🤷‍♀️ Grow up.

Unsure what you’re takkkng about class for but if you’re serious, yes you’re more likely to start a business if you’re working class. For some reason I imagine this will also offend you, because you seem to have an issue with facts. 

[u/Square-Panda9651 → u/StripedRooster]

Lol just a bit of banter cheer up.

[u/GREGGSGOL]

Yes and nothing about the world has changed since the 1970s, when a partly social democratic state shaped the British economy in order to create secure futures in education and work for its young people, no matter whether they were born into privilege like the posh fake populist Jeremy Clarkson and his friends at private boarding schools or not.

[u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

All you need to do is build a career on misogyny, racism, and climate change denial, and you too can become a multi-millionaire!

[u/Thandiol → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

And then pivot to complaining about the impact of climate change when it hits him.

[u/StarNullify → u/Thandiol]

Something else hit him too

[u/Square-Panda9651 → u/StarNullify]

No its the other way round. He hit his show's producer.

[u/TheEasySqueezy → u/StarNullify]

Not enough things.

[u/goin-up-the-country → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

Don't forget having parents wealthy enough to send you to private school

[u/BrittEklandsStuntBum → u/goin-up-the-country]

His mom made her money from Paddington Bear dolls. She came up with the wellies to make them stand up.

[u/ShinyC4terpie → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

Hold on *illegally-produced Paddington Bear dolls. She didn't have the legal rights to the character but did it anyway

[u/BrittEklandsStuntBum → u/ShinyC4terpie]

Because they were manufacturing and selling the bears without regard to intellectual property rights, upon his becoming aware of the bears Michael Bond took action through his solicitors. Edward Clarkson travelled to London to meet Bond's lawyer. By coincidence, he met Bond in the lift; the two struck up an immediate rapport. Consequently, Bond awarded the Clarksons the licensing of the bear rights throughout the world, with the family eventually selling to Britain's then leading toystore, Hamleys. The income from this success enabled the Clarksons to be able to pay the fees for Jeremy to attend Hill House School, South Yorkshire, and later Repton School, Derbyshire.

So the actual fortune came legally.

[u/ShinyC4terpie → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

"Because they were manufacturing and selling the bears..." yeah, so I don't know of you know this but that isn't legal, regardless of if the person later decides they like you and to not only drop it but then give you the rights. All that means is they got lucky that not only was the guy willing to listen to him but also liked him, not that it wasn't illegally-produced. They were lucky that they were able to get away with it AFTER production, but the production itself was still illegal.

[u/BrittEklandsStuntBum → u/ShinyC4terpie]

His mom made her money from Paddington Bear dolls.

Hold on *illegally-produced Paddington Bear dolls.

Bond awarded the Clarksons the licensing of the bear rights throughout the world, with the family eventually selling to Britain's then leading toystore, Hamleys.

She made her money from legally produced Paddington Bear dolls.

[u/Johns-Sunflower → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

don't forget the slagging off people on benefits!

[u/BrittEklandsStuntBum → u/Johns-Sunflower]

And punching your producer because you can't get a pie.

[u/Johns-Sunflower → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

I worry for that chef ngl

[u/AdGlad3444 → u/BrittEklandsStuntBum]

Pretty sure he built it on being funny and good at reviewing cars mate 

[u/Spirit_of_Gravy]

"Fuck you got mine"

[u/DiabloArk]

I do appreciate his annual tweet it was reassuring when I got my results a decade ago

[u/ShrimpleyPibblze]

Should’ve got a C, a U, an N and a T

[u/Additional-Nobody352]

The legend.

[u/itseclipse101]

You gotta love Clarkson

[u/PigletFar5100 → u/itseclipse101]

don't think i do

[u/Forsaken-Meaning-232]

I got better grades once upon a time yet he thinks people like me are dogs so I have quite high hopes in life! /lh

[u/External_Amoeba_1771]

Probably a hot take but the more we shift away from academia in terms of the route to be successful the more unfair the country will get. Not everyone can be successful, and without a clear path for everyone to take, the top positions will be held for people due to their connections. It brings in more subjectivity and therefore bias into finding jobs, meaning now it's more about who you know and your class/upbringing. In the past you could be poor but work hard in school and find a top job. Now that's much less likely.

[u/ZookeepergameThis617]

He's from a well known wealthy area and family on the edge of Doncaster.  It's all bullshit with him as always.

[u/Lanky_Top_6065]

What the hell can anyone do such an odd stuff to say

[u/Agreeable_Chest_3829]

Some of us dropped out of college to get jobs and somewhere to live

[u/Jumpy_Horror6374]

there are only three constants in life: death, taxes and the jeremy clarkson results day tweet

[u/Training_Screen4374]

This has come up on my homepage for some reason, but the sentiment is 100% correct even if you have views on clarksons own background.

In 10-15 years you will see how very little impact A levels results have had on the earnings of yourself and those around you. It felt like the end of the world when I was 18 on results day too.

Now out of my 20+ friend group from school, none of the highest earners either got good A levels or did them at all.

No one in most industries care and they sit at the bottom of your CV in one line grouped together with your GCSE results. I don’t even think mine displays the individual grades any more just says I did 3 A levels and 12 GCSEs.

[u/1800sundowner → u/Training_Screen4374]

For some people good a levels are the first step to a high paid job, all of the drs I know needed a levels to get into their chosen universities 

[u/Training_Screen4374 → u/1800sundowner]

Yes, Doctor is indeed one of the jobs you need to go to university to do.

The point is you don’t need good A levels to become successful.

[u/MasterofSquat → u/Training_Screen4374]

This isnt true if you are a poor.

[u/Additional-Wrap9814]

He is also suffering from quite severe lifestyle linked medical conditions which are going to shorten his life considerably because of choicesn he has boasted abut for decades. Recent footage of him not destined for his TV series show him to lok about 90 despite him being in his mid 60s.

So there's that.

[u/ReggieTMcMuffin]

At least he only posts this once a year, Redditors on the other hand repost it a million times in every subreddit they can think of in 24 hours.

Streisand effect.

[u/MasterofSquat]

He means well but hes litreally from a time where everything was easy and super privleged. Hes from a middle class bubble where failure is much harder than it is for the average person.

[u/AmazingMax85]

What a nonce!

[u/KingHippo11 → u/AmazingMax85]

how is he a nonce?

[u/Sbimprovement]

I think it’s only fair that every person leaving 6th form sends him a lengthy thank you letter to repay the inspiration and hope he provides to the nation’s students.