Niece 16 who I have fostered for 2 months and will foster for the forseeable. Didn't go to school for past 2 years as mother was neglectful and was more interested in boyfriends and alcohol than driving her to school which she couldn't get to alone. Niece has coped amazingly well with this and is keen to focus on her education despite having no GCSE's. She wants to become a pediatric nurse and is very passionate about it and says it's all she wants to do.
She has a place on an "Entry to Care" foundation course at the local college where she will take English and Math's GCSE alongside studying health and social. Originally we read that she could progress from foundation to Level 1, 2, then 3 and either get an apprenticeship in the subject or that uni's will accept her having completed Level 3. However niece has been looking online (As I said, she is v v passionate about it and I'm so proud of her. I want to make sure she takes the best route into it.) and has said that the vast majority of uni's are demanding 5 GCSE's and at least 2 A Level's. And apprenticeships apparently are scarse and require more and more each year and she's saying she doesn't want to work hard only to be turned away from work in 4/5 years because the requirements have changed.
So, what's the best route through? A friend has suggested scrapping the Health and Social care foundation and instead having her study 5 GCSE's this year. However college only offers GCSE courses to 16-18 students who've already took the exam and failed. She's only being offered English and Maths there. The foundation college course is only 3 days a week as well and me and niece both agree that those other 2 days need to be filled up with studying. I want her to get those 3 other GCSE's (esp a science) but I'm not sure the best way. Is she best of staying on the course for E+M and using the 2 free days a week studying for 3 others? If so how can we sort out the 3 others? Or is it worth scrapping the course (my friend has described it as a dead end course and says college is lying about finishing level 3 being enough for her to get into uni/an apprenticeship when she has no A levels) and having her spend the next year studying 5 GCSE's intensely and then progressing onto A levels? She is v clever and determined so I have no doubt she'll pass. Would like to request nobody replies saying how she shouldn't bother because "the NHS is unstable" or "the pay is shit" as we've both dealth with it in real life and I don't want to hear it. This is her dream job.
Advice much appreciated. As I said earlier, I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to help her achieve her dream. I don't feel she should have to settle for less. Not sure if relevent but feel someone may ask, I work full time in an office and am also a single parent to a toddler who is in nursery. Finances aren't great but I can scrape together a fair bit for studies.