To think it really isn’t necessary to have your whole life mapped out at 15?

No idea really. I'm just kinda winging it and hope no one finds out.

Did Classics at university cos I liked it. Harboured ambitions to go in to media/broadcast but volunteering at our student paper and radio station put me off - all that sweaty ambition.

Pursued my other love - History - and got a trainee researcher position at a local authority archive. Took up a role as a researcher in a charity and took on more policy work. Focussed more and more on consumer policy, then regulatory policy and now at 46 I work in economic regulation!

I did English, history and German A level and then English at university. Had no clue about careers. Literally none. Have had a very successful career in the NHS in a non clinical role. Just sort of fell into it, no plan at age 15 whatsoever.

I was determined I would do chemical research for a pharmaceutical company. Double maths, physics and chemistry A-level, Cambridge NatSci, Imperial organic chemistry PhD. So far so straight forward.

Except by the end of the PhD I could have thrown the lab kit out of the window and danced on it. I did finish through gritted teeth.

It was a shame as I’d adored chemistry to that point.

So I joined a Big 4 accounting firm. Spent a decade there and then shifted into industry. My only slight regrets are that I never took a gap year and that I didn’t decide to become an actuary rather than an accountant.

Oh, that's interesting, thank you very much! I'd only looked online at the entry requirements to Cambridge, Imperial and Oxford (which all stated Physics) and asked DH who did engineering whether he thought Physics was necessary and he said yes. Maybe he was thinking of knowledge, rather than admissions criteria (though he was at one of afore-mentioned universities). I think I may have checked Southampton too.

I've just checked Sheffield and Bristol and I see they don't require physics.

I'll check out the CTEC, thank you for that.

Just hopefully a helpful tip here. My son applied to uni to do Engineering and the only subject that would close that door is not having Maths. There were very few Engineering degrees that insisted on Physics though it is a desirable. He got offers from 4 Russell Group uni's, he did do Physics A level but none of them asked for it. He did find a CTEC (Alevel equivalent) in Engineering useful though, he did that as a fourth subject and it really paid off in his uni applications

This is one of the few occasions when so called facilitating subjects come into play. If she takes at least two facilitating subjects then she leaves as many options as possible within her current interests open to her.

But even so all is not lost.

At 15 my dd thought she knew exactly what she wanted. She took English Literature, Religious Studies & Dance. After 3 years of pursuing a career in the performing arts she has now changed her mind completely and in September is starting a degree in a science based subject. Her lack of science A levels just means she has to do a foundation year, that is all.

Plus in year 10,11,12 our school does lots of assessments online, talks about different opportunities and careers, what you like and what suits your personality, so there's plenty of time yet.

Why is she panicked? Is she quite anxious generally? Ds2 doesn't really know. Many don't in year 10.

As my wise careers teacher friend remarked "Many of the present school generation will be doing jobs / have careers which haven't been invented yet".

More concerning than not having a clue is when parents decide a child's career.I overheard a 14 yr old pupil say "my dad wants me to be an Actuary", in a way that made me think she'd already accepted that.

At 16 I did have next 5 years mapped out - A-levels and degree - it wasn't enough for people.

You change a lot in those years - and while you can close down options with choices further study or taking career chance can get you where you want in the end it's just not as cheap or straight forward.

I did a Master conversation course post degree to change subject area - and as it was a much better paid area paid that cost back in a few years. DH has chosen jobs carefully and manage to migrate from straight physics area to a specialised computer science area - wasn't always straight forward but he had his ideal job for last 15 years now.

Just mentioned about DD1 on education board - couldn't take GCSE she wanted and thus due to local condition couldn't take that subject at A-level - but ended up in the area - well related area anyway - and that was decided mid UCAS application - but she is very happy and it's a good fit for her in so many ways.

Try and work out which A-level she likely to enjoy and is good at - and at same time try and keep as many door open as possible with good range of subjects.

lmao I'm 34 and still don't have my life planned out...

I would just make sure she knows it's ok not to go to uni if she doesn't want to, or not to uni straight out of school, it's much harder to go back funding/time wise and she can take a gap year/work for a bit. I'd want her to understand she doesn't need to do these things right now just because everyone else is, and that sometimes working, living life, travelling a bit, can all be worthy experiences that help educate you about what you actually want to do.

Life’s what happens when you’re busy making plans. Some things will work out, some won’t. Whatever is meant for you won’t pass you by x

I'm a couple of years off state pension age and still don't really know what I want to do when I grow up. I have had four very different jobs, I currently run my own business and have been doing so for over 20 years. I still might change jobs, I have no plans to retire.

Of my school friends, one had a very clear plan from 11 or 12 and still works successfully in that career. None of the others are doing anything remotely like what they planned at A level stage. Eg, one did languages, worked as a translator for a bit, now manages a dental practice. Another did engineering but he and his wife own a 4 star hotel on the south coast. Someone else trained as a nurse, got burnt out by the NHS and now does a lovely craft, selling her work and running workshops.

I'm 72 and have similar thoughts!

I don’t think you need to have your whole life mapped out at 15. However dropping certain subjects can close doors. Eg DC in y11 wants to drop physics but also an bit interested in engineering. If they drop physics it will close that door.

Tuition was free. Grants were mean tested. I didn’t get one. A friend who also couldn’t get one had parents refuse to pay and had to work to support themselves.

Most adults have no idea what they want to do and just fall into jobs don't they? Most of us also change path along the way.
Hate all the pressure on kids. Just tell her to do something she enjoys.

Yes, it's fine. DC has just turned 16 but has changed their mind a few times in the last year about their direction. About a year ago it was definitely psychology A-level and a psychology degree. They've now dropped the idea of psychology for a degree but are taking biology instead because they are looking to a degree involving anthropology, which they have found usually wants a core science A-level. I'm not bothered whether they change their mind about degree as changing the to biology has given them a better balanced set of A-level subjects anyway, so it's a good thing regardless.

@toomanytonotice
We did not pay for degrees in the 80's
there were not limits on people becoming perpetual students
there were no loans
we got grants
MM timed it very well

DH and I are of that Labour generation of "50% of teenagers going to university". We were both the first from our families so were the poster teens if you like. In hindsight neither of us needed our degrees to get where we are. We think it helped DH progress a little quicker in the earlier days but his industry is so varied. One thing we've agreed on is that we will encourage our kids to go towards their interests. What comes after that is up to them, we definitely won't be forcing them to go to university. We will however encourage them to look at what they can achieve within that industry. For example if one wants to work in childcare then what would you need to do to become a manager in that field or run your own childcare setting? Is there anything additional you can do now to set you on the path for achieving more? Or perhaps one wants to be a nurse, ok which sector? could you potentially do a gap year and work in childcare or a care home first to help your application towards your dream university?

I think the younger generations are going to be working for much longer, poorer pay and struggle to house buy etc. I'd be terrified at 15 too if I had to think what I wanted out of life. Why not push them into worthwhile careers that they enjoy. I think the days of studying hard, forcing yourself to go to university and then a professional career is not necessarily attractive to a lot of teens now.

Fell in to cleaning as a stop gap and loved it . I've loved both my cleaning jobs despite people telling me and me knowing g I could "Do better". Now I'm not suggesting your child becomes a cleaner 😂 but the point I'm making is sometimes life throws up surprises and your child may end up by accident with a career she would have never thought she would do . Man makes plans and God laughs .

Ask her how many adults she knows who are doing something now which relied on the decisions they made when they were 15. Or even 18 or 21. I bet it's hardly any. Almost no one I know is doing what they thought they wanted when at school, or even doing a job they'd even known existed when they were at school.

He didn’t “retrain as a GP”. He went to medical school.

never qualified as a doctor as he realised he didn’t enjoy medicine at med school, and went into tv on leaving.

as a second degree it would have cost a fucking fortune as you only got grants/ fees paid for your first undergrad.

From my own experince I had no idea until I was 19/20. I think Gap years are fantastic I took 2 years off after A Levels to work full time - save for uni - mature and decide.
Tell her to chill out GCSEs mean nada in the long run.
All employers care about A-C in Maths and English and some want science to.

I once heard a mum describing her career - I forget the details, but she'd gone into a random admin job when she left school, moved to another one in something a bit related, then moved into a non-admin role in that organisation, and ended up with an interesting career in a field she'd never expected. I thought then that perhaps there should be more careers talks from people like that, who didn't have a particular goal in mind but ended up finding something that suited them.

I did have an idea of what I wanted to do at 15, but I'd completely changed my mind by one year into my degree. What I ended up doing was something I wouldn't have contemplated at 15.

At a sixth form careers workshop, DD was criticised for not having a plan for what she was going to do with her degree. The person leading the workshop seemed to think there was no point in the degree if you didn't know what you were going to do afterwards. DD is doing a subject which will make her very employable; she will have plenty of choice when she graduates, and four years is not only plenty of time to choose, but also to mature and explore new avenues.