The post even references this

> Our college is free and normally vocation targetted. People who leave school usually either get a job, stay on at school for 2 more years, or go to college.

To be more precise they are called "6th Form College", and take 2 years to complete. At the end you take A-Level exams* which determines which type of university you can apply for.

My mates went to Cambridge/Oxford, I didn't.

* This information may be out of date!

Where I grew up, there were kids in high school that left high school as soon as they were able to get jobs because their family needed them to help put food on the table.

So at least some privilege?

Colleges don't accept privilege as a currency. Privilege is the contagion you get from going to one. If you're white, and especially male, you incur a lot of privilege-contagion. If you're from a historically underprivileged segment (but not including poor whites), you get negative contagion--you're struggling against great odds and joining the historically privileged, good work!