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

I’m 28 still don’t know what I want to do with my life 😂

I'm 33 and have never had a plan! Just made the choice I needed to make at the time. Please reassure her about that. She needs to have fun and enjoy herself, just do enough at school to get to the next stage, that's what I tell mine.

There’s more to life than university. If my kids were young again I’d be helping them explore apprenticeship opportunities

We even got housing benefit in the summer holidays back then !

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that. So could you do two degrees all for free? There were no tuition fees were there, and you you got a 'grant' for your living and accommodation expenses I think?

Not only is is not necessary to have your whole life mapped out at 15, it is pretty much impossible!

Eh?
He did all that before the days of Student loans
Oxford is cheaper than most unis after all

Closes them in the short term only. My DF has just done his A level French exams and he is 73. Nothing to stop you going back and getting the qualifications you need later on in life.

I always promised myself I'd get O Level maths once I'd qualified as an accountant - they abolished O Levels the year before I qualified* *🤔

My story, if it helps...
Took GCSE options that I either liked or was expected to for various reasons. Started A levels, changed my choices 3 times in the first 6 weeks and left to get a job at the first half term (I was still 16 at the time). I'm now 52, have been made redundant or threatened with redundancy 3 times, have been employed and self employed. I went back to college and eventually university with support from wherever I worked at the time. None of it was mapped out at any time. If you'd have asked me at 15 what I wanted to do, I didn't have a clue. I found my niche through work experience and time. Good luck to your DD. 😊

I left home at 16, spent a couple of years working a variety of jobs, partying, clubbing plus at school full time, unsurprisingly failed everything in sight.
Shared a flat with a friend who'd left school at 16, who was working and studying part time to train as an accountant, which I thought was unbelievably boring.
She gave up after a couple of years, trained as a nurse. I went off to France for a while, came back and did "A" levels as a mature student (that hurt at 20!) - since I then had A levels in Law, Accounts & Economics, with Accounts the only A, I trained as an Accountant, later did an MSc. Still working as a Finance Director 40 years later.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the leaving home at 16, clubbing/partying/failing everything in sight (including many of the O Level resits) - but I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do, and ended up doing the very thing I thought my friend was crazy to even contemplate.

Lots of people fall into something after a twisty turny journey through life.

How many people wake up age 15 having had an epiphany that their life's purpose and passion to be payroll and benefits administrator in a HR department for eg?

The kids who have it mapped out are usually following a specific path - doctor, teacher, lawyer, architect, nurse- with specific training required.

If she's not sure what to do, she should take broad spectrum A levels and take a year out to work and travel. She'll figure it out!

This is only true if you want to follow a very specific pathway.
You can always learn languages later in life, engineering can be approached through apprenticeships and BTECs - and I am sure there's a workaround for dropping chemistry as well.
It's difficult with only three A Levels to keep all your options open. My DC is making these choices now as well and it's tough!

I do agree with this @EarthlyNightshade. It's really tough and DC have been through it and found it hard, particularly DD who could have succeeded at pretty much any subject and wanted to keep everything going!

I guess it's helpful to be armed with as much information as possible - a good example that wasn't obvious to us was that many top economics degrees require maths/further maths but not economics.

loads of people had no idea what they wanted to do at that age. I certainly didn’t. I went on to be pretty successful career wise. Honestly I’d tell any kid that age not to sweat it. Most kids have no idea what actual careers are out there anyway, bar the obvious doctor, lawyer, nurse, police etc etc

He must have had support though. Who supported him through Oxford? Who then supported him while he retrained as a doctor?

One of my dc at that age had no idea what they wanted to do in life. That dc was also very stressed out by people constantly asking, especially as their siblings all had strong career choices, and chose GCSEs and A-level subjects that gave them a clear route. Eventually dc started telling everybody who asked that they wanted to be a teacher. Perfect answer. It got the questioners off their backs. Dc was (is) a good academic all-rounder. We encouraged to dc choose subjects that interested them, with a good range of facilitating subjects and a good balance between coursework and exams. Just follow their interests, get the best grades they can, and see where it takes them.

As soon as dc got to uni, they stopped wanting to be a teacher. People had stopped interrogating them about a career, and the pretence was no longer needed. They are enjoying uni and doing well. Time enough to worry about a career later.

FWIW I never had a career. Worked in one field before having dc, and returned to work in a completely unrelated field. I had no formal training in either field. I am happy, have what I need and a bit more, and have pride in my work.

This is only true if you want to follow a very specific pathway.
You can always learn languages later in life, engineering can be approached through apprenticeships and BTECs - and I am sure there's a workaround for dropping chemistry as well.
It's difficult with only three A Levels to keep all your options open. My DC is making these choices now as well and it's tough!

I’m 44 and I’m still hazy on the details, and I have a career!

tell her to listen to wear sunscreen!

Yes! and also - there is over a year before any year 10 has to make a firm choice and enrol in post 16

I didn't know what I wanted to do and still don't to an extent though I quite like the work I do now - but I wish somebody had explained if you are not really drawn to anything in particular you may as well aim for working in this type of well paid or flexible industry over this type of not so well paid or inflexible industry. Particularly if you have no real strengths or weaknesses and are as drawn to STEM as languages or humanities.

No it's madness to be honest and way too much pressure at year 10.

I wanted to be a social worker - left school with nothing much, did a BTEC - worked, travelled, did 2 A levels PT - went to Uni at 22 - did a degree I loved - at 25 I did a post grad for my current 'job' - 26 years later I am working within Children's Services in education!

DD1 always wanted to study politics and at 21 is studying it but not sure on her next steps

DD2 wanted to be a nurse - focused on the right A levels, balls one up - did half a BTEC then changed track and is studying Criminology and Sociology - now aiming for youth work/youth justice!

DD3 is year 10 - no interest in Uni - wants to do BTEC in media and an apprenticeship in media and marketing

But at 15 - to expect anyone to have a firm career plan is crazy

Oh and my post grad - careers guidance!

Closes them in the short term only. My DF has just done his A level French exams and he is 73. Nothing to stopnyou going back and getting the qualifications you need later on in life.

This is a useful link:

https://www.ucas.com/sites/default/files/tipsonnchoosingaalevelsmarchh20150.pdf

This is good advice.

Very few 15 year olds know what they want to do for the rest of their lives and probably few grown ups follow the career path they planned at 15/20/25/30 years old.

But worth considering that dropping chemistry rules out a number of medical careers, dropping physics may rule out engineering, dropping languages closes those doors. If DD isn't sure what she does/doesn't want to do then leave as many options open as possible.