A system in which individuals reach the social positions they deserve, based on educational achievement, talent and skills is called?

A system in which individuals reach the social positions they deserve, based on educational achievement, talent and skills is called?

• A. Post-compulsory education
• B. Life Chances
• C. Meritocracy
• D. State Schools

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is meritocracy, a system in which social positions are earned through merit—educational achievement, talent and skills—rather than background or luck. Meritocracy is the view that rewards and status should go to those who demonstrate ability and effort, making advancement depend on actual performance rather than who you’re born to or socioeconomic connections. This helps explain why education is seen as the key pathway to higher status in many societies, because it is supposed to measure merit and translate it into opportunity. The other options don’t describe this mechanism. Post-compulsory education refers to levels of schooling after the minimum requirement, not how positions are allocated. Life chances describe the likelihood of obtaining opportunities in life, but it’s about the potential to succeed rather than the rule that positions are assigned by merit. State schools are simply a type of school and do not define how social positions are distributed.

The idea being tested is meritocracy, a system in which social positions are earned through merit—educational achievement, talent and skills—rather than background or luck. Meritocracy is the view that rewards and status should go to those who demonstrate ability and effort, making advancement depend on actual performance rather than who you’re born to or socioeconomic connections. This helps explain why education is seen as the key pathway to higher status in many societies, because it is supposed to measure merit and translate it into opportunity.

The other options don’t describe this mechanism. Post-compulsory education refers to levels of schooling after the minimum requirement, not how positions are allocated. Life chances describe the likelihood of obtaining opportunities in life, but it’s about the potential to succeed rather than the rule that positions are assigned by merit. State schools are simply a type of school and do not define how social positions are distributed.