I wasn't too sure what to blog about this week, but this time last year I was thinking about what I was going to do after my final year of secondary school. I know I would have found it particularly useful if I had a little more information when choosing what to do after finishing my final year. After all, it is quite a daunting process! Seeing as a lot of people will have to make this decision fairly soon, I thought at least one person may find this post useful. So after this long winded opening, lets get into it...
Choosing what to do is never going to be easy.
Throughout our school lives, we don't really have too many big decisions to make in terms of our education. You just work your way through each year. But after completing your GCSEs, one of the hardest decisions has to be made; where to go and what to do next. Do you want to go to a sixth form attached to a school? Or do you want to go to a college? Or opt for an apprenticeship? You may even want to find a full time job. All of these options are great, you just need to choose what is right for you.So, how do you choose the right option?
You may not know what the 'right' option is, even throughout your first year in the pathway you choose, you may still wonder 'was this the right choice for me?' I certainly thought this very frequently. If you can, you need to think what future careers appeal to you. Then, you may be able to research different options. If you have no idea which career path you would like to take, try and keep your options fairly open by choosing a broad range of subjects at AS level. My advice would be to attend different open days to get a feel of different environments, but also to talk to the students and teachers. In my opinion, the best information will be obtained from students; they are the ones studying the courses and will know what the college/apprenticeship entails and you will be able to gain a wide range of opinions on what the subjects are like too. On top of this, try to make your own decision. Listen to advice from parents and teachers, but don't let them pressurise you into taking certain subjects or going to a particular college. At the end of the day, this is your education and your future. You need to do what is right for you.How I chose what I wanted to do:
By the end of Year 11, I knew that the career path I was most interested in was journalism/broadcasting. I then looked at George Spencer Sixth Form and Bilborough College. I preferred the sixth form environment, as it is a much closer community and I knew that I would already know the majority of the teachers, having gone to school there for 5 years. Plus, I only live a 10 minute walk away so it was convenient. After talking to friends in the year above me, I decided that sixth form was going to be the best option, to hopefully achieve good A levels to help me apply to University. I do wish however, that I had looked into the subjects a little more. I chose English Language, Media Studies, Geography and Psychology. I absolutely loved English and Media from the moment I started the courses and I liked Geography a lot too. I found the majority of the Psychology course interesting, I just wish I had spoken to more students in the year above about what exactly the course entailed; as it wasn't all I thought it would be. So, I would 100% recommend talking to as many people as you can and also checking out the syllabi to your desired courses online.Hopefully, this post will have helped a few people on what to do after Year 11 . If you do have any questions, please feel free to find me on social media using the links on my homepage and send me a message! The more advice you can get, the better.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you are leaving your final year of secondary school, good luck for the future! I have listed a few links below which may be of some use, so check these out if you are interested.
Emma ♡ x
Apprenticeships in technology, media, accountancy, business admin, web and social media, and much more: https://3aaa.co.uk/
Information on choosing between college and sixth form: http://www.careersadviceforparents.org/2014/12/choosing-between-sixth-form-and-college.html
This website is particularly useful for choosing a career pathway but also whether to choose an apprenticeship, college or sixth form: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/youngpeople/Pages/Youngpeople.aspx
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