Ten inspirational people who didn’t get the grades

Flunking your GCSEs and A-levels may be soul destroying at first, but as this bunch prove, missing out on the top grades is not the end of the world. From a self-made billionaire to a neurophysiologist, here are some inspirational Brits who became successful by taking a different career path.

1. Alan Johnson

Believe it or not former education secretary Alan Johnson left his grammar school in Chelsea at 15 without a single O-level (GCSE) to show for it. With no qualifications, he got his first job stacking shelves at Tesco but reportedly quit because his bosses wouldn’t give him a lunch break. He became a postman at 18 with a wife and two children already in tow. In 1987, after 19 years delivering letters, he became a full-time union official. It wasn’t until 1993 when his career in politics kick-started. Johnson was appointed general secretary of what was then the Union of Communication Workers, with a seat on Labour's National Executive before stepping into parliament.

Despite an unconventional route into the Cabinet, he has since been in charge of the Work and Pensions, then Trade and Industry, Education and Skills, the Health department, and the Home Office.

2. Simon Cowell

Controversial ‘X Factor’ judge and world-renowned celebrity Simon Cowell left school before the sixth form with two O-levels in English Language and Literature. The Londoner had a few menial jobs before working in the mail room at record company EMI. Before he knew it, the soon-to-be music mogul was signing successful bands like Five and Westlife before eventually starring as a judge in his own show ‘X Factor’ and global franchise ‘Britain’s got Talent.’ Cowell was ranked at number 41 in a list of ‘The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010’. Not bad for someone with just a couple of O-Levels.

3. Julie Burchill

Bristol-born novelist and writer Julie Burchill decided to ditch her A-levels just weeks after starting them. Her schoolteacher allegedly told her parents that if she went to work in the local biscuit factory - as many of her classmates would - it would be like putting a pheasant in a fish tank. Despite the harsh words from her teacher, at 17, she landed her first job writing for the NME. With that work experience under her belt, she went onto writing for The Guardian, The Express, and The Daily Mail. She has much to show for her short academic career, including a Channel 4 drama series based on her teenage novel ‘Sugar Rush’ which won an International Emmy in 2006 and another sixteen books. She is currently a columnist for The Independent.

4. Joss Stone

With three GCSEs to her name, pop princess Joss Stone born Jocelyn Eve Stoker took the world by storm at the tender age of 16. After leaving school prematurely, she went onto sell more than 10 million albums worldwide with her soulful voice and won two Brits and a Grammy. The talented young star blames dyslexia for the fact that she left school at the age of sixteen with only three GCSE qualifications. She said: “It wasn't that I was stupid. I'm just a little bit dyslexic, and I wasn't very academic. I'm more artistic.” At 18, Stone was the youngest woman on the 2006 ‘Sunday Times Rich List’ with £6 million.

5. Lord Alan Sugar

Growing up in a poor Jewish family in London’s East End, the way out of poverty for the business tsar was not through education, but by hard graft. To this day, he publicly prides himself as boiling beetroot for greengrocers and selling photographic film to friends which earned his first few pennies. Uninterested in academia, he left school at 16 to sell car aerials & electrical goods out of a van before building up his £770m business empire. He founded his company Amstrad (Alan Michael Sugar Trading) in 1968 at 19-years-old by retailing home computers and electrical devices made up of cheap components. At its peak, Amstrad achieved a stock market value of £1.2 billion. Amsair, Viglen Ltd, Amsprop and Amscreen are amongst some of the other companies he established. The hard-as-nails entrepreneur has since become the star of the hit BBC reality show ‘The Apprentice.’

[Related story: Record results but boys fall behind]

6. Dr Mark Lythgoe

When neurophysiologist Mark Lythgoe didn’t get his desired A level grades, his parents cried. With 3 Fs and an E in physics, he needed another way out of the council estate life - something his parents were keen for him to do. It wasn’t until his mother forced him to apply for a 3-year diploma from the Salford College of Technology that he got the boost he needed. Following a diploma in nuclear medicine at the College of Radiographers¸ an MSc in Behavioural Biology and a PhD in Biophysics¸ Dr Lythgoe is now a neurophysiologist at the Institute of Child Health and a director of the Biomedical Imaging Centre, University College London. To add another string to his many bows, Mark has also presented several documentary programmes for television and radio.

He said: “Over the years my sense of failure was my closest friend. I never doubted my abilities but, at moments of darkness when I’ve struggled academically, it’s the thing that’s got me up in the morning. When I gained my PhD at the age of 37, it was one of the happiest days of my life.”

7. Richard Branson

Richard Branson, 61, is one of the most famous school dropouts on our list. The British business magnate and founder of Virgin performed poorly at school. Suffering from severe dyslexia, the now highly-acclaimed business tycoon found it hard to excel in his studies. He left school at 15 with three O-levels. Sick of the rigidity of school rules and regulations, he ironically decided to publish his own national student magazine and run a student advisory service. At 20, Branson started Virgin as a mail-order record retailer. That was the beginning of a $4.1bn empire which would encompass everything from planes, space flights, trains, makeup and mobile phones to music festivals and condoms. The rest is history.

8. John Major

Former Tory party leader John Major was Prime Minister between 1990 and 1997. His educational achievements first sparked a media frenzy back in 1991 after he was put on the spot during an appearance on ‘Panorama’ for not coming clean about the number of O-levels he possessed. Even though it turned out that he only had three O-levels, leaving school early would start the making of a future Prime Minister. Four years later, he began a correspondence course in banking, joining Standard Chartered bank in 1965. In 1979, he was elected to Parliament for Huntingdonshire. He then held the posts of Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the cabinet of Margaret Thatcher, succeeding her as Conservative Prime Minister.

9. Heston Blumenthal

Failing a science O-level didn’t keep the Michelin-starred celebrity chef from experimenting with liquid nitrogen in the kitchen. Blumenthal has summed up his time at school with “Could do better”. The 45-year-old was surprised to make an unwelcome discovery about his O-level grades a while back, saying: “I always thought I had seven O-levels. I went back to my old school certificates to check and found out I actually got six. I did really well up to the year before my O-levels. Then all the distractions came along, going out with the lads, beer and girls.”

Fortunately for the London chef, who claims to be self-taught, he now owns three Michelin starred restaurants across the UK, including the famous Fat Duck in Bray and has appeared in a number of television programmes. He will be remembered in years to come for his signature dishes like snail porridge, parsnip cereal, and bacon ice cream.

10. Sir Michael Caine

You may be surprised to find out that 78-year-old Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr aka Michael Caine didn’t go straight into acting when he left school at 16. With four O-levels, the teenager then went on to do compulsory national service in Germany until 1954 and then combat in the Korean War. It wasn’t until the 1960s that his film career began, earning roles in huge titles like ‘The Italian Job’, Oscar-winning ‘Hannah and her Sisters’, and more recently ‘Austin Powers’ and ‘Harry Brown’.
Among his many cinematic successes, he was also knighted by the Queen in recognition of his contribution to cinema and is one of only two actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting (either lead or supporting) in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s.