Why do most jobs require GCSE or equivalent?

Oh, and btw my DH has dyslexia and is a police officer. The police force has been incredibly supportive and he is great at his job and won quite a few awards. So if police officer is something you want to do. There are ways and means -you just need some different help to that you’ve been receiving.

I agree OP but jobs list GCSEs as a way to prove you have maths and literacy skills which is not fair as there are other ways to do that. But employers want the best people now and not having GCSEs is going to be a way to filter you out.

When nursing became a graduate career lots of people that would have made fantastic nurses found that they were not able to do the courses on offer.

I would see an educational psychologist, or whatever the adult equivalent is, and find out your barriers to learning. I would also look at every neurodiversity to see if anything fits. Some ADHD traits, for example, are barriers to learning. You will probably need to pay for the EP, but if you are in England you can get a diagnosis for ADHD or ASD via the NHS and Right to Choose.

I’m genuinely not!! I think you’ve made a massive success of your career!

i left school with no GCSEs, not what I wanted, I’m smart enough in a practical sense but didn’t apply myself academically.

I’ve rarely had a problem getting a job but it all depends what you want to do, since leaving school in 2007 I have:

worked in pub kitchens
been a lifeguard
supermarket assistant/baker
warehouse/forklift operator
baker in a large scale Bakery
Assitant Bakery manager

and now for the last few years I have worked self employed as a painter and decorator.

it was a long road to find what I actually wanted to do, I enjoy the work and the income is very good, I’ve not been one to sit at a desk all day, there’s jobs out there that will take you on, it’s just trial and error to find something you like, personality at the interview is key

Have you been tested for dyslexia. It can be linked to short term memory issues, poor spelling, remembering sequences and processing information. Maybe pop along to your local college to
point you in the right direction You do have the ability you just need to get someone to help you find the right tools.

As someone else has said, it sounds like ADHD and you have very poor executive functioning/working memory. It's clear that you're not stupid.

I'd look into self-employed cleaning if I were you. You can charge around £18/hr now depending on your area and you just need to print out some leaflets and deliver them.

Probably because there are 9 pages of replies and people haven't got the time or interest to read them all, so either skim or just reply to the OP.

There’s obviously some sort of issue you haven’t had diagnosed; adhd, dyslexia?

Quite ironic that so many people are posting about the importance of literacy and analytical skills but have not noticed that there are over 200 replies here and a great many of them are repeating the same things. Why do people do this?

I'm an employer, I wouldn't necessarily need to see qualifications if we had a face to face and I felt you could be a good fit. I've owned a couple of different businesses like this, ok, the jobs aren't very well paid with little career progression but they exist and are available to people such as yourself.

Id suggest applying to local independent businesses who won't just have a check box to get through the door. But realistically, no without any qualifications you probably won't have a career but there are plenty of jobs

Agreed. Also, it used to be accepted that employers would take people on and see if they were any good. If they weren't, they'd be sent on their way. If they were good, they could work their way up. Employers expected to have to train people on the job and many people were sent to college on day release for the academic side of their training. Equally, if the employee didn't like the job it was easy to get another one, and if you felt you were being taken advantage of your union would have your back. It's all very different now for most people.

I remember talking to a woman who was probably born in the 1930s. She left school on a Friday, aged 15, with no qualifications, probably just a reference from her Headteacher. She started her first office job on the Monday. Over the course of her first week there, her Dad decided her employer was taking advantage of her as she wasn't getting home at what he regarded as a reasonable time, so he told her to give in her notice, which she did. She started another job almost immediately. That would be almost impossible today.

Now's not the best time to be trying to get a job, all of the government schemes supporting people into work have pretty much drawn to a close.
If you're active and good with your hands (and like the outdoors) it may be worth seeking out some voluntary work with the organisations that were running these schemes. Charities like The Conservation Volunteers or Groundwork have experience working with people experiencing barriers to accessing employment and so will be able to help you develop skills that hopefully might lead to a job. Trying lots of different things is key to finding something you can do confidently and competently.

OP from what you’ve said I’d seriously look into whether you have ADHD. The words of teachers floating by and not being able to hold on to them really rings for ADHD

i think it’s quite insulting that you think a police officer shouldn’t require basic education.

I strongly suspect that you have at least one undiagnosed learning disability/SEN. You say that you think you may have discalculalia and it wouldn't surprise me if you also have inattentive type ADHD, or something else. Whatever it is, you can read and write, so you can learn, or at least you've been able to learn how to do that.

What about cleaning OP? You don't need to do maths to do that. It's minimum wage work, but there are cleaners who don't even speak English and certainly don't have British qualifications.

I believe bouncers require level 2 qualifications nowadays.

How about becoming self employed? Doing voluntary work? Could studying for functional skills maths and English be an option for you?

Your writing is of a good standard , much better than some. I don't understand how you have learnt to do this, when you say you cannot remember things such as what you have been asked to fetch or who it is for [in the pub].

You say that you're a SAHM , so did you not find that what it involved was hard to learn/remember?

If you fancy the police but don’t have the GCsEs, couldn’t you be a bouncer or something similar instead?

English GCSE even 25 years ago didn't necessitate having to retain information.

It was a choice of essay titles and one or two passages of comprehension with questions to answer. Some were even multiple choice.

Op do your kids have any learning difficulties?
Because these things (autism, adhd, dyslexia) often run in families.

I think a place to start would be volunteering so you are then able to get a reference and it might boost your confidence.

But you need to set realistic expectations and speak with Job Centre see what they can come up with for you.

have you considered volunteering in an area of work that interests you? That may demonstrate what you can do to yourself and others and may lead to paid work. Some areas have charities which can support you into qualifications and work, depending on your difficulty.

Do you know how much law police officers have to learn? How could you do that?

You can, but this isn't what the OP has said . She said she struggles to retain information, faces and instructions, but has managed to learn and remember spellings and grammar .