This C-essay is a qualitative study designed to create a basis for understanding how managers involved in school affairs perceive the impact of merit points on students’ chances to continue on to higher education and how this will affect individuals' life chances.

The study is based on three interviews with managers involved in school affairs. In this paper grades, merit points and socioeconomic class differences are discussed.

The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions:

 What impact does merit points in language studies and the way different languages are valued, in the system, have for the individual and for society?

 Who are the winners in the new grading system and who are the losers; how are different socioeconomic groups affected?

The material was interpreted with the help of a report written by Ingrid Nordqvist and Monica Langerth Zetterman called "Secondary School competition field-a regional perspective", a paper written by Helen Raven who did a study on grades, national tests and social reproduction and the Frenchman Pierre Bourdieu's theories.

The results show that class differences will increase and that it will be difficult to rise in the social hierarchy in the future.