disadvantaged students - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

A levels and other examinations were always unfair, yet perhaps it took a pandemic to see it. You can be amazingly clever, but if you're disadvantaged then there is a high chance that you'll have issues with stress deregulation in your body. What that means is, that for your body, an increase in stress will defocus your brain and hinder exam performance. For a student who lives with more affluence, there is a good chance (yet not a guarantee) that their stress response is well regulated and in exam conditions their brain achieves a higher level of focus. So, maybe the government didn't do such a bad job of their algorithm (though there are heart-breaking stories out there for sure that need correcting), maybe it's actually evidence that unfairness has been "baked into the cake" for generations. Perhaps that's the "big lesson" the government needs to ace.

Education always was a huge unfair competition because we live in a "winner takes all" competitive society. That's why there are private schools and anyone who can afford them pays for them. That's why parents decide where to live based on school performance if they can afford to. Disadvantage has always been there, concentrated into the poorest, piling on yet another disadvantage. From the time babies are born parents give them every advantage they can if they are able... if we actually want a fair society... the competition has to end... and that is a huge change for the better if we can learn to love each other enough and cooperate enough to achieve it. Perhaps if wages were more fair, if living standards were good for all, we'd stop the competition between our kids. This is such a hunger games world... compete if you want to eat and have a home... I think it's time we stopped all that, anyone else got an appetite for change?