To be sad neither of my kids are very ambitious

People will always need childcare, but it will always be poorly paid and with poor conditions. OP is not being unreasonable to feel her daughter has made a bad decision. However her daughter has many years ahead to realize that and make changes.

This! They’ll always get jobs and could earn well. They’re also 15 now. They can retrain or upskill in the future. And won’t have massive student debt.

Being happy doing something you love is a perfectly valid ambition.

I do have sympathy op. I feel/felt the same way about my children. Super bright but they went to bog standard state schools and we live in a working class deprived area.

They do well comparatively but compared to the affluent middle classes whose children can naturally go from private school where they are pushed and encouraged to aim high and on to Oxbridge or RG - and then ‘jobs for the boys’ in all the high earning professions.

It is disappointing when your child - who seemed full of potential in life - settles for something you know will mean they’ll just about manage financially like we have. You hope for higher for your children.

They can always go to university later.

My DS became a plumber he now owns his own business I couldn't be more proud of him

With the way tech is going I would expect a decent joiner has more job security than a low level jobbing solicitor over the next decade or so.

My DM recently retired from nursery nursing. It does tend to be a low paid arduous job (and one where you're at risk of having thick bitchy colleagues IME) but one young girl who worked with her made decent money babysitting in the evenings, like hundreds of extra pounds a month. I think if you're a bit entrepreneurial, you can do well. I assume nursery owners are making decent money too, as DM's nursery was bought by an investor who wasn't a childcare professional and put a manager in to run it. This was in the London commuter belt though, YMMV.

I think the building trades are excellent (as seen in "The Millionaire Next Door". I would totally have retrained in a trade if I'd had the means and aptitude to do so. University was a massive waste of time for me in career terms, even with a (tiny) grant, low rent and free tuition. Your kids are on the right track. I'm only encouraging mine to go to university because a) they are not practical, b) one ie a NEET and a language degree is better than nothing, c) one wants to do law which is fine, and d) we live in a country where tuition is free.

You may get flamed because this is mumsnet however in the real world, people guide their 15 year olds.
If I feel that my child at 15 is making a decision that may impart them negatively in future, I feel as their parent, i’m meant to explain this to them and let them see the pros and cons.

On your post, I think your son has chosen a very decent apprenticeship and even if it’s not something that’ll lead to him having a ‘white collar job’, he can build a very solid and decent career from this.

For your daughter, I know working in childcare is honourable and decent but we all have to agree that it’s not well paid. I’ll worry about her already limiting her choices by not wanting to do highers. I’m assuming you’re in Scotland from your post and it’s not as if she’ll end up with as much loans, etc if she went to uni.

If this was my daughter, I’ll let her see more options that she could pursue if she wants to work with children. Lots of them like degrees in child psychology, special education and education in general, speech pathology, social work, child development, etc. this will broaden her choices . She might end up working in an early years setting but at least, she would have options.

They've both got off their arses and got an apprenticeship! IMO that shows work ethic, confidence and ambition.

You should be very proud of them.

Apprenticeships are amazing, but I would prefer a high ability dc to do A Levels or college and then go into a higher aapprenticeship at 18 personally. I think they are narrowing their options earlier than they need to. Some kids just want out of full time education and into the real world, but as long as they continue to study its fine. This is controversial, but staying in education is particularly important for your dd, we all know women earn on average a lot less, and whilst a qualified and gifted carpenter will earn a bloody good wage, someone working in child care won't.
I do know a girl who used her apprenticeship BTEC to get into uni. Yours could do this or go onto a higher apprenticeship once they finished their current apprenticeship. Just make sure they have all the options, have done all of the 6th form and college visits and know what is available to them.

I get it OP, DD is a bright little thing (I think) I’d be secretly a bit disappointed if she didn’t use it. Definitely a hint of the tiger mum about me (only a hint though). What I would say though is that they have chosen careers that will hopefully see them happy and they can still be very successful. A “professional” career isn’t the be all and end all of life.

Tbh I think they sound kind of sensible, you will probably find that in ten years they will have their own homes and settled while some of their peers are still living with their parents.

My DH doesn’t have a degree and has had a very fulfilling career. He’s happy with the choices he made. Maybe the way to look at it is that we don’t have long in this world, knowing your children will be doing jobs that hopefully bring them joy is very precious. We spend decades of our lives working, if you are lucky it’s something that you love. Also agree with the idea that your Dd could do child development.

These days I would be encouraging my children to look at careers where roles are less likely to be replaced by automations and AI. In my job we are implementing a new system which is likely to mean at least one person in my relatively small team could be made redundant. Realistically, more jobs are going that way.

Hi op. Firstly, careers are not static nowadays, so what they start out doing at fifteen could turn in to something very different when they are forty.

And they won’t be burdened paying off student loans.

Childcare provision and carpentry will always be in demand.

I live down the road from a carpenter who makes special commissions and was featured in a national magazine.

Working with children can be stressful but an incredibly fulfilling thing to do with your life. And it’s very adaptable if you want to travel or set up your own business.

I wouldn’t worry too much. They can always study in addition to their work later on if they want to.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking the apprenticeship route but if it were my kids, and they were academically able, I would encourage them to take highers/ a levels first before deciding. You change a lot in those years. They might still choose apprenticeships but they would have more options available to them, particularly if they want to change career further down the line.

misses the point of the thread.

Is modern studies the new general studies?

I get what you mean to an extent but I think the fact they both have apprenticeships lined up is something to be very proud of! Also they will always have steady work when qualified which is a huge bonus!

Joinery is a good career. As for childcare, if that's what she's into then maybe she can do it at a higher level. She could go on to a degree in childhood development or something. There are plenty of options.

I think you have to let them find their own path... and they have all the time in the world to change that path if they want to. Securing apprenticeships shows admirable drive and you have to put your own ambitions for them aside.

The step up from Nat 5 to Highers is a significant one both in difficulty and amount of work so they may not feel willing or able to take that on right now.

Plus a joiner is likely to have a good income. Childcare less so as the pay does not at all reflect the importance of the role...

I think it's tough for young people. Taking on student debt is extremely daunting and I can completely understand why a young person might shy away from it.

If it makes you feel better OP I came from a fairly educated family and didn't pursue study very enthusiastically until I'd held a few low level jobs and then I decided to go to university because I didn't want to do low skilled work.

Also I started on a very low level after university and then worked my way up to senior levels.

Who is to say that your DD won't end up running a chain of childcare centres?

If it’s about money then nursery nursing is badly paid but carpentery and joinery is in demand and if business savvy then surely your DS could have his own business one day.

I worked in higher education in two very prestigious Universities for over 25 years. As it was not a vocational subject I can say hand on heart plenty of those graduates did not end up in graduate jobs but did end up in plenty of debt.

I’m assuming you’re in Scotland so no tuition fee debt but honestly some degrees aren’t worth what they used to be due to saturation of the market. Unsure about Scotland but back when I was a gal only 10% of people had degrees so you were a rarer commodity.

There is a depute manager of an early years centre role in my local council (also Scotland) up for £50,000 a year - I wouldn't worry!

Modern studies is a subject in scottish schools it covers politics and social issues, the time period differs when I did it at school the subjects are now history 😀 I'm not sure what the English equivalent subject would be.

I don’t think you are unreasonable at all! You are an adult and you understand the demands and constraints of real life. I didn’t understand this at all as a teen and frankly not until I was in my mid twenties and working hard and unable to afford much of life.

They can change direction later though.

academia is not for everyone. Some people learn much better hands on! Let them be.

I think there’s decent earning and development potential with joinery but I’d be a bit worried about the childcare apprenticeship too. Such a valuable and important job but I don’t think the pay reflects that.