Did I just do the most amazing job application?

Something just hit me. I don't remember filling in my education
details for a job application I just did. That's fucking brilliant! In
education the symptoms of mental ill health can mean for lower grades or
a lack of education. It doesn't mean the person is not capable. I went
to one of the top 5 schools in the UK and when I started there was a guy
there who didn't fit in. He was from a very poor background and had an
assisted place. He must have been exceptionally intelligent to get
through the 11-plus entrance exams with his poor background and low
socio-economic status.

He didn't last long. He just stopped coming to school. It's not
surprising. He didn't fit in. I was one of the few people who was
friendly with him. Through a scary coincidence I met him again several
years later when I ended up in a children's home in Harlesden.

His lack of education meant his raw talent was never used. He'd always
have the barrier of having no GCSEs let alone any other qualifications.
It would be a barrier to basic jobs yet he had the intelligence and
capability to get into one of the hardest secondary schools to get into
in the country. I applied to many private schools and even got a
scholarship interview at another prestigious school but the one I ended
up in had the hardest exams by far. Some people who went to that school
would have left university and got jobs paying £40,000 a year and by now
are on six and even seven figure salaries (I know at least 1). My cousin
went to the same school and was headhunted by Arthur Anderson while
studying medicine at Oxford university. They offered her £70,000 a year
but she continued to a medical career.

An education is important of course but it's not the only thing and for
many people who have suffered from mental health problems it means they
can't flourish (to borrow Dr. Jo Nurse's term for the
reconceptualisation of mental health as getting the maximum potential of
the individual and for society) as they should once they've recovered.

Education is such a barrier in employment. Many places need jobs need
specific degrees and it won't be long before a Masters will become a
minimum requirement. This will extend the level of social disability.
Removing the barrier of education as a pre-requisite may advantage many
people who have potential but because of problems with their behaviour
or mental health problems they never got the grades they could have.