You’ve spent years preparing to take your GCSE qualifications at the end of Year 11 but now it’s time to make decisions about the next two years of your life. The government dictates that you spend from the age of 16 to 18 in either full-time education or an apprenticeship. This page should provide you with everything you need to decide which option is best for you and the tools you need to progress to your intended destination.
Apprenticeships
What are apprenticeships and how are they delivered?
Apprenticeships combine paid work with day-release study at a local college. The employer provides the practical, hands-on training within the workplace and college staff provide the theoretical background and knowledge that are required to develop skills and gain recognised qualifications.
What levels of apprenticeship are available?
Apprenticeships are offered at varying levels, from level 1 up to level 6. Students with poor to average GCSE results usually take level 1 apprenticeship but those with average to good GCSE results will take a level 2 apprenticeship. Both start from the basics of knowledge for a particular employment sector and build practical skills up gradually. They usually last for two years. Most traditional trades train level 2 apprentices, so that employers can teach the practical skills that apprentices won’t have had the chance to develop at school.
Apprentices who succeed on a level 2 apprenticeship are often given the chance to move on to a level 3 apprenticeship after two years. However, if you have excellent GCSE results, you might be able to start a level 3 apprenticeship, without taking a level 2 apprenticeship, depending on the employment sector. Level 3 apprenticeships give you qualifications that are equivalent to A levels. If you work for a large enough employer in the right employment sector, they will often encourage their successful level 3 apprentices to move on to apprenticeships at level 4 (a Higher Apprenticeship) or levels 4 to 6 (a Degree Apprenticeship, which earns you a university degree, as well as developing a very high practical skill set).
How do I find an apprenticeship?
70% of employers in Kent are small businesses that employ fewer than five members of staff and many of these employers are self-employed trades people. Lots of them train level 2 apprentices and family connections are often the best way to make contact and get taken on.
Medium-sized and large employers will usually advertise their apprenticeship opportunities on the government’s Apprenticeship website, through which you can make applications directly to employers. You will need to register and create an account but you can then be sent alerts when apprenticeships that match your employment sector and geographical search area are advertised. You can access the government website here.
How much are apprentices paid?
As employers receive government funding (via the Apprenticeship Levy) to provide apprenticeships, pay rates are fixed centrally in accordance with the National Minimum Wage. Apprentices are paid employees, so they must expect to be working five days per week, with a minimum of 20 days of holiday per year. You can find out how much you will be paid for different levels of apprenticeship here.
Full-time Education: Choosing the subjects
This is the best way to choose subjects, if you already know for sure what career you are aiming for. Be careful, though – just because you’ve wanted to be an engineer since you started at secondary school doesn’t mean that you will still want to when you finish your seven years at school. Use the tools on the ‘Careers‘ page of this site to find out what type and level of qualifications specific jobs require.
If you already know what you want to study at university, research the typical entry requirements for that course at a range of UK universities. A simple Google search of ‘entry requirements for X at UK universities’ will lead you to this information.
This is often the best way to choose subjects to study, if you are not sure what career you are aiming for or what course you want to take at university. Two years is a long time to be studying a course you aren’t enjoying, so you should always make sure you have chosen courses that you imagine you will enjoy in Post-16. Talk to current students and their teachers to find out if your hunch about the course is correct.
Different qualification types are delivered and assessed in different ways. If you achieve your best results in exams, then A levels are a good choice for you, as are IB diploma courses – many A level courses contain no coursework or very little, though IB diploma courses contain at least 20% coursework. If you achieve best through coursework, then BTEC vocational courses will suit you, as they are 60% coursework, though all IB diploma courses contain at least 20% coursework and many contain far more.
You will probably end up combining these approaches in making your choice of subjects for Post-16. Once you have decided what you want to study, you need to check which providers offer the courses you want to study. Use the links on the ‘Full-time Education: choosing a provider’ tab on this page to access online course prospectuses at local sixth form providers and to find out when their open evenings will be held.
Full-time Education: Choosing a Provider
There is much to be said for sticking with what you know best: you know your teachers well, you are comfortable in the environment and you know that you will be well looked after for the next two years. We have a dedicated Post-16 Team of staff with expertise in developing and supporting Post-16 students, as well as facilities and systems that allow increased freedom for students and opportunities to take on responsibilities that make them both more employable and more attractive to universities.
We also provide one of the widest choices of courses of any school in the area. We offer a wide range of Academic and vocational programmes in the form of IB Diplomas, AAQ and BTEC Qualifications and T Levels. Students can combine qualification types in a way that few schools allow but which provide students the opportunity to demonstrate that they have the skills that employers and universities highly value.
We are also a large and successful sixth form, with more than 250 students from a diverse and multicultural background and a strong track record of very good results, especially in IB diploma and BTEC vocational courses.
We are recognised for how well we support our Post-16 students into their preferred destinations at the end of Year 13. In a typical cohort, two thirds of our students go on to university and one third go on to full-time employment or an apprenticeship. Our pastoral care is recognised as second to none.
You might have decided that you’re ready for a change of environment, you would like to experience different teachers or you want to study courses that we don’t offer.
Some of our highest achieving Year 11 students decide that they would like the chance to study in a grammar school. Sometimes, this is because they want to take a unique qualification suite (such as the full IB Diploma Programme) or need to study certain types of qualification that prepare them for particular courses at university (such as needing to take A level science qualifications to progress to the study of medicine at university).
If you decide to apply to a school other than The Leigh Academy for Post-16, you need to visit their open evening in the autumn of Year 11 and check the courses they offer and what their entry requirements are to make sure that it is the right place for you.
To find out when other schools are holding their open evenings and to apply for a place, use your Kent Choices login (delivered to you via school in September/October of Year 11) via this link: Kent Prospectus
There are some obvious appeals to going to college for Post-16: you don’t have to wear a uniform, you have a lot more unstructured free time than you do in a school and college campuses usually have excellent facilities for vocational courses that schools can’t offer.
With far less contact time at college, you’ll be able to manage a part-time job easily but you will need to be very self-disciplined about keeping on top of your work, as college lecturers won’t chase you in the way that your teachers at school do.
Most college courses start recruiting students in the autumn of Year 11 and the popular courses fill up fast, so it’s important to apply and get an interview early.
To find out about colleges near Dartford, contact North Kent College via this link: www.northkent.ac.uk/ or South East London Colleges via this link: www.lsec.ac.uk/