Leaving school with no GCSEs. Positive stories please

[PearlsTeapot]

Long story short, DS won't get any qualifications after being out of school. He's autistic and couldn't cope with school.

I worry endlessly as he is approaching 16 that he won't be able to get a job without qualifications. This was made more stressful by learning he couldn't even get one at mcdonalds which is where we were hoping he'd get a place at.

He is really smart, so funny and polite. He's good fun to be around and works hard when he commits to things. He volunteers with me at a foodbank once a week so has something to talk about in terms of experience.

Is he going to be ok? Positive stories appreciated.

I work with young people who don't have qualifications, often care leavers. There aren't a ton of options but there are some:
-Construction
-Driving jobs - he could be advantaged with this as many kids can't afford to learn
-Care work, males are in demand if it would suit him. Also childcare/nursery roles.
-Hairdressing, barbering and other beauty industry roles
-Hospitality, pizza delivery places tend to be easier to get jobs in than McDonalds (which is actually quite competitive)
-Dog groomer/walker

It's a hard road he's chosen but it sounds like he needs to be allowed to make his own mistakes.

There was a programme following army training and a lad with no qualifications, by the end he’d been picked for extra training, he’d found his niche in life. Your son needs to find his, what can he apply himself to?

"It's a hard road he's chosen but it sounds like he needs to be allowed to make his own mistakes."

Yes, this. But it's so hard as his mum to sit back and watch mistakes happen or things I feel could be avoided. I'm trying to sit in the path of radical acceptance.

Thanks for the positive posts. I don't know what his path is going to look like.

My ds is a year older, didn't 'fail' everything but mainly got 3s which is high enough for some college courses.

Ds is ASD, a bit of add, and anxiety. I can't imagine him coping in any employment environment at the moment. But he is maturing, just more slowly than his peers.

So we looked for a college course tgat would be fun with minimal exams and he's resitting maths and English. He chose art btec but there was a fair range he could have gone with. Plan is to do this for a couple of years and hopefully pass E and M then basically start again choosing a course or apprenticeship which will equip him for some sort of employment.

For the kids who did fail everything there is a one year course where they do a little bit of everything and are taught life skills like travel and planning. That was our back up plan and a year of that would have got him into art.

@BangFlash glad to hear your DS has found something that works for him.

My niece couldn't cope with school and left with no qualifications. She went to college who had a great SEN dept who were fantastic and did practical subjects like bricklaying. She got an apprenticeship as a stonemason, qualified in that and is doing brilliantly.