By Frances Child on 26th August 2010 fir dai1ymail
Parents could be forgiven for thinking that every teenager in the country has sailed through their exams with flying colours.
But even an expensive private education and a life of wealth and privilege are no guarantee of exam success - as Gary Lineker's son, George, has discovered.
Despite being educated at one of the top public schools - Charterhouse, where fees are £25,000 a year - George failed to get the three Bs he needed to go to Manchester University. Along with thousands of other disappointed candidates, he faces the tough decision of whether to spend a year studying for retakes or to opt out of further education.
Both have blamed George's poor results in his A-levels on Charterhouse school, however Frances Childs believes George's partying is to blame So where did it all go wrong? Well, George blames his teachers, expressing his disappointment by writing 'Didn't get into a uni . . . cheers school' on his Facebook page.
His father didn't hesitate to lay the blame for his son's failure on Charterhouse, too. The school, he said, had used his son as a 'guinea pig'. George's year was the first to sit a new exam - the Cambridge Pre-U - instead of A-levels and he claims this meant his son was penalised.
So are the Linekers right to feel aggrieved?
As a teacher with 15 years' experience in the classroom, I can tell you George appears to have failed his exams because he didn't work hard enough and - let's be blunt - his parents did not manage to convince him of the importance of trying hard.
Gary's complaints might have some justification if everyone in George's year had failed dismally, but 60 per cent of the pupils achieved the equivalent of grade A or higher. It's just that George wasn't one of them.
Claims that George was failed by his school are especially unfair given that on numerous occasions he was photographed falling out of nightclubs in the early hours - more often than not with a blonde on his arm.
'Just as George's exam disappointment can't be blamed on his teachers, neither can we teachers take all the credit when children shine. We help, encourage, try to guide and inform our pupils, but in the end the work is theirs'
Alas, George and his family are by no means alone in blaming teachers for their own failings. Their attitude is symptomatic of the spoilt and arrogant approach of many affluent parents and their children, who believe money can buy anything - even top exam results - regardless of personal merit.
As a teacher and parent, I know how hard some children work for their grades. Regardless of whether or not A-levels have got easier, thousands of youngsters slog their way to top grades.
Take Caroline, one of my star pupils. She had none of the benefits enjoyed by those who go to one of the finest schools in the country, yet she has achieved straight As and is on her way to university to study medicine.
Unlike Gary Lineker, her dad isn't a multi-millionaire. He's a mechanic, and her mother is a cleaner. Caroline will be the first in her family to go to university.
Understandably, her parents are bursting with pride. And yes, they did thank her teachers for helping her, but we all know the real achievement is Caroline's.
Just as George's exam disappointment can't be blamed on his teachers, neither can we teachers take all the credit when children shine. We help, encourage, try to guide and inform our pupils, but
in the end the work is theirs. Caroline is the person who studied late into the night after finishing working part-time in a shoe shop.
She never lost her focus or let the appalling behaviour of some her classmates distract her from her studies.
Party Animal: George Lineker on a night out with former girlfriend Sophie Reade earlier this year, but did lifestyle cost him a university place?
What a contrast to George Lineker. His father is rich beyond most people's wildest dreams. He attended a school with illustrious alumni such as veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby.
Far from turning down the opportunity of a family camping holiday, George flew to Tenerife to party with the rich and famous just weeks before his exams. He was behaving like someone who simply expected a clutch of top grade A-levels to fall into his lap. After all, Daddy had paid for them, so surely they were his by right.
Though I've never taught in a private school, colleagues who have say the biggest pressure they face is pushy parents.
They simply can't or won't understand their precious offspring won't achieve ten A* grades at GCSE and a clutch of top grade A-levels if they don't work hard. Parents who pay through the nose to educate their children often do so in the misguided belief that they are entitled to reap a healthy return on their investment.
In some cases, having rich, high-achieving parents can give you a fantastic head start. But equally, children of parents who have succeeded spectacularly can feel under terrible pressure.
This is made worse if families expect great things from their children just because they themselves have done so well.
So, perhaps the question Gary ought to be asking himself isn't 'Why didn't the school get George his grades?' but 'What could I have done differently as a parent to help him do better?'
'In some cases, having rich, high-achieving parents can give you a fantastic head start. But equally, children of parents who have succeeded spectacularly can feel under terrible pressure.'
Gary and Michelle divorced in 2006 when George was just 14, a vulnerable, impressionableage. Gary has since married Danielle Bux, a former lingerie model with a young daughter.
Is it possible that feelings of guilt over his broken family stopped Gary from putting his foot down over his son's partying?
Or was he - understandably, perhaps - soft on his son because as a young child George endured painful treatment for leukaemia?
What matters is getting George back on track. And here there is a fresh chance for father and son.
George is hardly facing a year of desperately applying for jobs in supermarkets and fast food chains to try to support himself. He can afford to have extra tuition and to retake his exams.
Of course, it won't be easy. But compared to that battle with leukaemia - which the family faced with dignity and courage - it is surely a minor irritant.
So my advice to George is to stop whingeing and knuckle down. It might be dull, but a year spent with the classics under your arm rather than a buxom blonde ought to do the trick next time around.
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