For a long time, socio-economic status and social class have been considered powerful indicators of student success. Australia, like many of our fellow First World Nations, is a nation that 'reaps what it sows', but how can we expect those who are disadvantaged to reap without giving them seeds? In the same way, can you expect the same results from every student in a class when each of them has different social makeup, interests, experiences, and speeds of different learning? The goals of good sociology, and therefore of education, are the recognition that gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexuality and age all make a considerable difference in how people access or not, experience or not, the benefits of institutions such as schools. Each student comes to school with their own setbacks, supports, advantages, disadvantages and cultural diversity. Therefore, what is the impact of social class, geographic location, and diversity in socioeconomic status on a high school student's education and retention of academic abilities? In this essay, the intention is to explore and discover the vital advantages and/or disadvantages that socio-economic status and social class has on the academic achievement of high school students. In Australia we tend to avoid using the term “social class”. Some say it is in a bid to blur the “class” divide that is crippling countries like the UK. The famous social theorist Karl Marx understood that society could be divided into groups or classes; the capitalist class (high SES) and the working class (low SES). He assumed that the distinction between the two lay in their relationship to work (Connell et al., 2013, p. 81). Simply put: whether they worked on... middle of paper ... a fish, you feed it for a day, but if you teach it to fish, you feed it for a lifetime. He agrees, but believes that the person must feel that they have the right to fish in the first place. “Feeling entitled to something is much more powerful than simply needing or wanting it. This implies that someone else has a duty to respond” (p. 23). When it comes to secondary education, the consensus is that this “duty” falls on everyone involved in the education of each student: the teacher, the principal, the local community; and above all, the student. All people, no matter how poor, have responsibilities to their communities, but powerful individuals and organizations, including governments and the schools they run, bear a particular burden of responsibility if we are to build a society based on equity and social justice..