If you left school with no or very few qualifications

[aesoplover]

What job did you end up in?

DH is an airline pilot - he left school with very few qualifications, favouring vocational subjects like woodwork etc. He got the bare minimum GCSEs (even failed English), went on to be an electrician’s apprentice and started his own business before deciding that he wanted to learn to fly. He earned good money in his trade which funded flying lessons and a physics degree as a mature student. He’s now an airline pilot who out earns me (someone who left with good GCSEs + A levels and immediately went on to university) by £100k 🤣

Wow that's really impressive! Clearly dedicated and hard working but school wasn't for him.

My sister left school with no qualifications whatsoever and became a dental assistant. She's now a practice manager.

DH joined the forces. Retires shortly after 25yrs. He made it to Sergeant equivalent. Leaving on an immediate pension at 45.

Customer service currently but I was a teenage mum so not had much opportunity to progress in a career until now. I currently earn £29k as I'm good at the job and opportunities are there to work up to team leader at £32k and then middle management at £50-£70k eventually.

Left school at 16 with four mediocre O Levels. Eventually held a senior position in a professional services firm with best year earnings almost seven figures. Decided to wind down a bit now and earn a third of that post normal retirement age. Had some lucky breaks along the way, but lots of exceptional hard work and focus in the early years to understand the market and people paid off.

policy writer

Thanks all for the input. Just a bit concerned about ds future.

What are his interests?

What are his interests?

Gaming
Gym
That's about it.
He's autistic, dyspraxic and has ADHD so although intelligent, he cannot focus and apply himself to study. Has missed a lot of school (years) through overwhelm and burnout.

A PT course maybe? I know a teen boy who sounds very similar. He has just gone into his second year of it and is absolutely thriving after struggling in school for his entire life

So hard when considering the 'normal' (not really normal) route that we're supposed to take.

I would suggest giving him time to work things out. You're a long time a grown up.

I speak this as a mum of 2 autistic children, neither attended school much. The eldest took their time for a few years after 18 to work out what would be good for them and is now in an apprentice scheme (which we cannot believe has happened but are so proud) and the other taken a part time college course which is gentle and relaxed for them. Not a subject they particularly want to continue in but one they enjoy.

Please don't worry about figuring all out for now. There's plenty of time for stuff to evolve naturally. Take the pressure off yourself and them.

Good luck to you both.

I meant to add that the eldest only got 1 gcse. The apprenticeship they secured is really quite impressive, without any other qualifications.

Try an apprenticeship in engineering.

Left school with no qualifications, I'm now a Senior Manager in the finance industry. I did do some finance qualifications that one of my previous employers paid for (I started off in admin there)

I do IT for NHS. I was a big gamer when a teen too. Started at entry level admin roles and worked my way up.

My DS (also ASD & ADHD) left school with no GCSEs and one BTEC - he’s tried a few things since leaving school but is not fitting installation to lofts. He’s managed to get his CSCS card so always has labouring as a back up.

He’s been given a chance with quite a few places but they need to want to work. He’s quite money driven, people see a hard worker before they see his school results.

ExH has no qualifications (was home educated). He's a train driver on London Underground.

Is he medicated for his adhd? I only have my school qualifications but work in an investment bank in a front line senior sales manager role. I worked my way up from temp secretary and took any opportunity I could. It did take a lot longer than it would have if I'd had a degree. I was diagnosed with adhd in my late thirties . If I had known about it earlier and had treatment I think I would have managed university I was smart enough but just couldn't cope with managing my own study.

I would say some of the success stories here including my own are of older people. I think now where a lot of people have qualifications it's a lot harder as a lot of jobs will put uni degree as Minimum requirement even if the role doesn't really require it.

For any apprenticeship they need at least a grade 4 in maths and English or a pass in functional skills and the better apprenticeship, s attract those with better qualifications.

How old is your DC? Agree with not putting pressure on, but it's sometimes good to try different paths up to age 19, while the free FE funding is there.

Some UK colleges offer eSports now - they had it at DC's state FE College. I think it's a BTec in competitive video gaming. Looked a lot of fun, with teams and tournaments and the BTec format is much more accessible than A level. I suspect a lot of the students would have been similar to your DS and outcomes were very good. They even had a residential option, if needed.

@HighlandCow78 Sorry I can't quote back as on the app but yes that might be a good idea for him.

@helpyhelperton Thank you, that's a really kind post and very reassuring. Glad things worked out for your two.

I left secondary with poor qualifications as I screwed up (thanks ADHD!). I ended up doing retakes and getting a good degree anyway which enabled me to become a policy wanker for the Civil Service. I earn decent money but could earn more in the private sector (currently applying for posts in private sector with a pay jump of 50-70%).

I probably didn’t need to redo everything but I did and it worked.

Does he have an ehcp? It's just that gives funding for a bit longer to do college stuff. In my LA an ehcp also opens up 'supported traineeships and supported internships' which are in horticulture, IT and a couple of other things. The waive the 4 in maths and english. Tgey can lead to apprentiships and funding to get functional skills maths and english.