And he was able to go (I assume) back when people from working-class backgrounds could get full grants to go to university, plus a living-expenses stipend. They didn't even have to be obvious geniuses to get this. Merely as clever as the middle- and upper-class kids whose families could pay for it.

The 60s-80s period saw a degree of class mobility that has not been seen since. And which, I suspect, is no longer desired by those in authority!