Education: PASSED/FAILED: Laurie Taylor

Laurie Taylor, 60, is a columnist and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at York University. He presents Afternoon Shift on Radio 4.

A Little Saint? My parents thought I had a vocation for the priesthood and sent me to a very disturbing Catholic boarding school in the Midlands.

Heavenly Rewards? My first prize was at the age of seven, for a very reverential piece written for The Altar Server on "My visit to Vale Crucis Abbey". It was a bronze medal that you were allowed to wear when serving at Mass. At seven-and-a-half I had another prize. It was an extraordinary choice by the school: The Golden Ass by Apuleius, in which Ancient Roman matrons do immodest things with donkeys.

Ordinand Levels? Then I went to another Catholic School, St Mary's College in Liverpool. I got English, French and history O-levels and, eventually, Latin, which I took three times. I never passed maths.

Diabolical A-Levels? I took English, French and history. I might have failed history. It amounted to one-and-a-half A-levels. I got thrown out. I had messed around.

A Good Turn? After working in a warehouse and being a librarian and a pyjama salesman, I went to the Rose Bruford Drama College in Sidcup, Kent. As part of my drama teachers' diploma, I got a credit in improvising, a credit in fencing and a credit in Ancient Greek dancing, which is my party turn (though never requested). I was most proud of my credit in mime, which involved "The Forces of Evil versus the Forces of Good"; I was Evil, which gave you a chance to grope the girls playing the Forces of Good. I came second in the Radio Prize to Nerys Hughes, who went on to become a Liver Bird.

Next Act? Then I went to Birkbeck College to do a psychology degree in the evenings for four years while teaching during the day. I got a First - and also the Elaine Gladstone Prize, a fiver's-worth of books. At Leicester for a year, I scrambled through an MA in sociology. After that I was a lecturer of sociology at York University and then Professor.

Hail Fellow? I got an honorary doctorate from the University of Nottingham and from the University of Central England (that's in Birmingham) and an hon professorship from Thames Valley University. I was very pleased to be made a Fellow of Birkbeck.

The Good Book? When I was a librarian, I got something like grade six in librarianship, which meant you could go to the "issue" desk. In the oral exam, the man quoted Dewey Decimal classified numbers like R939.786S and you'd answer, "Second World War: Empire: Land Offensive: Biography". You'd also have to put authors into strict alphabetical order: "Macs" were the tricky ones.

Stations of the Cross? The Radio Programme, which I presented, came third in the Sony awards - and was axed shortly afterwards