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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think this girl should be in College?

67 replies

AstridPeth · 03/09/2018 17:58

Dd1 started college today. Her friend was also due to start today but was a no show. Turns out she didn't get the grades to do the level 3 course she applied for and didn't want to do a level 2. Dd's friend has informed my dd that she has got a full time job at the factory that her parents work at. All young people are supposed to be in education or apprenticeships until 18 now so i am just wandering...is this enforced by the L.A? or will she just slip under the radar? It's non of my business but I am just curious. At 16 I am sure it seems really good money but it seems such a shame.

OP posts:

Storm4star · 03/09/2018 18:50

I'm nearly 50 and when I was at school you could leave at 14 if you had a full time job to go to! I don't think much is "enforced" between 16 and 18 even now. I do see what you're saying in your post but ultimately not everyone can have "good" jobs. Factory's need workers. Plenty of people work in factory's. There's no shame in it. I wouldn't enjoy it because of the monotony but I do have relatives who have worked their whole lives in factory's and have been quite happy with that. I don't think you should be feeling sad on her behalf.

deste · 03/09/2018 18:56

Storm4star I’m not sure where you went to school but I left school in 1966. I think you have got mixed up because three people in my class were not allowed to leave because we weren’t 15 before the school broke up for summer. We had to go back to school till the following Easter. Like someone above said she might go back into education like I did.

StoorieHoose · 03/09/2018 18:57

So if the government have created these rules have the increased funding available for on the job training apprenticeships or college places?

I left school at 16 1/2 and got a full time job paying £5k a year. It was 28 years ago mind you! I’ve learnt on the job without formal training but started an OU degree 4 years ago

EdisonLightBulb · 03/09/2018 18:57

Really @storm4star? I a am 52 and you could not leave before the May of the year you were 16 in England. Where do you live? DH left in 1982 and never turned up for his Olevels because he had a job, no one chased him - but 14? Nah.

Gwenhwyfar · 03/09/2018 19:00

"ultimately not everyone can have "good" jobs. Factory's need workers. Plenty of people work in factory's."

Just because unskilled jobs need to be done doesn't mean that some people can't have any further skills. It's still better for the individual to get some education or training. They could work in a factory between other jobs, but it's unlikely to be fulfilling for a person's whole life.

Storm4star · 03/09/2018 19:01

Well I remember clearly we were all very jealous of the boy who was allowed to leave at 14 to work at his dads building company! I went to school in Cornwall though so maybe it was different there!

Rebecca36 · 03/09/2018 19:06

She may well be just having a year off after the disappointment of her grades and plan to retake them.

Storm4star · 03/09/2018 19:08

The girl is 16! I left school without any decent qualifications and had children very young. I got a degree at 35 and have a professional job with a great salary now, which I've been doing since that age. She has plenty of time. And, even if she does work in a factory forever, that's her choice. My relatives who work in factories all own their own homes etc. They're happy with their choices, I'm happy with mine. There is no "right" way to do things.

GabsAlot · 03/09/2018 20:04

i thought it was a law like it used to be for under 16's not to go to school

anyhway i doubt they'll do anything she'll prob say shes training and they'll leave it

Standbyyourmammaryglands · 03/09/2018 20:09

Keep your nose out! Further education isn’t for every one.

Thesearmsofmine · 03/09/2018 20:17

My dad left school at 14 to work with a family member who was a blacksmith. That would have been 1963.

OP if the girl is happy then to me that is the most important thing, she is working and not dossing about. I doubt she will be checked on.

Storm4star · 03/09/2018 20:21

Glad someone remembers people being able to leave school at 14! Even if it was a few years before I was talking about. I wouldn't actually be surprised if Cornwall was different to some other places as long term prospects in Cornwall were never good. I don't know that they're much better now, unless you're willing to move to get a career.

Sorry, Op, continue with your thread! lol.

Original poster

AstridPeth · 03/09/2018 20:30

Standby...You are incredibly rude and unnessecarily so. I was curious because the government have made it compulsary for all students to stay in education until they are 18. My oldest dd is only now going to college and I was interested to see that if they made a rule like that were they going to follow it up. Perhaps you should keep your nose out of other people's threads if you are only going to come on to be rude!

OP posts:

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/09/2018 20:31

Dd left college last year at 17 to set up her own business.

Had a word with LEA etc and the inference was you could do what you liked as long as you didn’t claim benefits. Although they would prefer it if you were in education or training.

Dd has been working full time since last September.

Original poster

AstridPeth · 03/09/2018 20:31

Storm4 I am in Cornwall :-)

OP posts:

Original poster

AstridPeth · 03/09/2018 20:33

Olivers..
Thanx that's really helpful. I just assumed it would be like school where the L.A could enforce it.

OP posts:

LIZS · 03/09/2018 20:35

If her dyslexic friend passes gcse english and maths she should be able to move onto level 3 next year. Options become limited without them, maybe working friend has realised this. The option to resit will still be there later on.

Original poster

AstridPeth · 03/09/2018 20:38

This is my worry...LIZS - From what I have read the English/Maths resists aren't hugely successful..Dd's friend only got a 3 this year and the pass rate was a 4. Next year the pass rate is a 5. If she doesn't pass will she be stuck on the level 3 course? It seems very unfair especially as her results in that chosen field were higher than my dd's at G.C.S.E.

OP posts:

Original poster

AstridPeth · 03/09/2018 20:39

Stuck on Level 2 I mean.

OP posts:

LIZS · 03/09/2018 20:43

Maybe she will receive better support at college, or could take functional skills to get onto level 3. Is the level 2 not a year long course?

Oliversmumsarmy · 03/09/2018 20:47

There is a whole thread about the ridiculousness that if you don’t get GCSE English and Maths then your life is put on hold or stopped.

I pointed out that I know lots of highly intelligent people who have degrees and professional qualifications who travelled unimpeded through the O Level, A Level degree route without passing either English or Maths.

I know one guy who is heading up a research team in Europe who failed English.

Today he couldn’t get a Lab assistants qualification.

I would think that if the friend doesn’t ever see herself passing either English or Maths then no matter how bright she is there is no point in wasting time studying for something she cannot qualify in.

Storm4star · 03/09/2018 21:05

Ooops! Sorry OP! Are the job prospects better in Cornwall now? I left there 30 years ago so it may well have changed in that time. We lived near a Unigate factory and I remember when I left school at 16 my dad said "you need to get yourself to Unigate and get a job" and I freaked out and moved to London! haha.

For what it's worth, while my English result was decent I got nothing in Maths. I then did an access course at 20 and their GCSE maths was totally different to school. There was no confusing algebra etc, it was all "adult" based maths like budgets and shopping and I did so much better at that.

Given you've said this girls parents work in the factory I do wonder though if it was a bit like the scenario with my dad where they said to her, ok you need to get a job with us. But ultimately she will find her own path. Me and all my female relatives were brought up that we work in factories and/or are housewives. That was the mentality. All my other relatives went for that option and, in fairness, none of them seem unhappy with their decisions so I certainly wouldn't ever criticise them for it. I wanted something different and I found it. The same will apply to this girl.

Birdsgottafly · 03/09/2018 21:14

""the employment has to be while pursuing education/training/apprenticeship part time""

It's debatable if it should be.

It can do someone the World of good to take that year and work out what they really want to do.

It's up to her if she wants to risk a bit more debt later on, if she decides to go back.

There are still employers who will foot the cost of training and many don't get to use the qualifications that they have and have got into debt for.

There are plenty of opportunities for young people who haven't gone down the study route from School.

YABU to think that she should be in College.

Birdsgottafly · 03/09/2018 21:18

"If she doesn't pass will she be stuck on the level 2 course?"

No she won't. My DD didn't do the Maths needed for L3, but as an Adult (20) she doesn't need the Maths.

It depends on where you live but there are other providers that offer English/Maths.

thegardenfairy · 03/09/2018 21:27

We weren't expecting my DS to get the grades needed for the college course he had his heart set on. I looked into his options... If he couldn't get the grades at GCSE level it would be a waste of time him returning to school to so 6th form A Levels. His other options were to get on apprenticeship or a full time job.

He passed his GCSE's by the skin of his teeth but if he hadn't he would have got a full time job.

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