What can a 16yo do with no qualifications?

[CollegeConcern]

My stepdaughters, though delightful, are not very academic or hard-working. Despite my best efforts, they have been slightly behind expectations throughout their school years and the eldest (year 10) is now predicted to get mostly 3s in her GCSEs.

Their dad went into a hard family trade they have no interest in, and their mum, stepdad and I went to university. From what I can see A-Levels and most technical courses at college require five GCSEs at 4+. She has no interest in childcare or beauty, and seems to be vaguely assuming she’ll get into A-Levels because that’s what her friends plan to do.

What options are there for her if she doesn’t get high enough grades for Sixth Form? Shop work or hospitality?

With 3's she'll only get a Level 1 course a college. But while she's doing it, she'll study to get a 4, to get onto L2.

Here the applications for next September had to be in by January, and the conditional offers for post 16 courses have already gone out to this year's year 11s.

My DD had to apply for the courses she wanted at the colleges she wanted on an online platform, and it was guided and managed by school. Here the minimum to get a conditional offer to do A levels is 5 5s, with a 5 or higher in the subjects they want to do at A level (or a 6 or higher if it's a language), so it sounds like that's off the table for her and she'd be looking at vocational courses with lower requirements ,plus retaking maths /English alongside to get a 4.

How are her school not on this? What do they think she's doing next year?

She could start dog walking now. Getting some work experience/ volunteering would be really useful. Volunteer in a library over the summer/ might give her an insight.

College near me you can do a Level 2 course with 3s. Level 2 is GCSE level, isn't it?
As an example, you can do an animal care course with three 3s (including maths and science)

She’s in year 10.

Re-taking GCSEs at college is probably the best bet. It's still the foundation of further education and entry requirements. Maybe consider some additional tutorials to help them too.

If she year 10 - I would keep on trying to get up up to a 4 in maths and English as it will massively improve her later options.

Then I'd go to local college open days -- September onwards they happen.

Many of DD2 friends were in this position - well into Y11 but they've done a mix of knuckling down and all now a have plan for September. There were a couple of her friends who had bad shocks that they wouldn't get high enough grades to do what they wanted and a few months and worry to find a way forward.

Also careers advisors see them all in Y11 at DC school - as they do try to avoid NEETS.

Ah then in that case, I'd suggest doing the college/sixth form visits asap - here I think they start in summer term of year 10. Then she can get info on what the requirements are for the courses she's interested in - or the grade requirements might be on their websites permanently and you could look them up now so she can see that A levels aren't realistic for her.

I'd echo PP and make it abundantly clear to her and both her parents now that she will not be living with you and bumming around once she leaves school - mum might get on board with encouraging her to plan her post 16 future, once she realises the prospect of having DD at home and getting no child benefit or universal credit for her keep.

Be wary of doing a GCSE resit year in Y12…my sister’s DH did this and somehow ended up with worse grades than in Y11, so still had no qualifications a year later. Maybe best for DD to do a course she wants to do alongside Maths and English.

This is where the problem lies IMO - with her mother setting such a poor role model. I can quite believe that the plan is for the girl to move in with you once Mum loses her benefits. What's her plan for supporting her other 3 children? Is she going to carry on fannying about part-time crafting cards for FB while living off their maintenance money and benefits?

College open days are happening near me right now. It may be hard to encourage her to go as she’s sure that she’ll go to Sixth Form but a non-academic course will hopefully spark her enthusiasm.

Even if she scrapes the 4s, Sixth Form is probably not where she should go next unless they have courses like BTEC aimed at people who get 4/5 in GCSEs. A-levels are hard and it sounds like her parents are too “kind” to have nurtured resilience and the need for hard work into their kids.

As a “gentle” child it may be unthinkable for her to think about leaving her friends and going to a new school in Autumn 2026 but if they are academic then they will leave for uni and beyond a couple of years later anyway. Assuming that sd continues on her current trajectory, it sounds like you need to be prepared for a big upset on her results day. It’s a shame that you’re the only adult who can see this coming and thinking about how to mitigate that result. She’s lucky that at least one adult in her life has ambitions for her.

As an aside if dd goes onto a level 1,2 or 3 course then mum will continue to get child benefit etc for her.

You apply to college etc for the course you want, then on results day, you go in and chat, they will find a course she can do then which is suitable for her grades and in areas she wishes to study, but it may not be what she wants. Our local colleges requires 5's for A levels, but theres other courses they can do and resit maths and english if necessary. My non-academic child did "trade" courses at college whilst resitting, he did paint and decorating, bricklaying, and plastering. My very academic son went straight into the course he applied for. My daughter starts this year and currently has 2 options she is looking at incase she doesnt get the grades for the A Levels. Now education or training is mandatory, colleges have options for kids that dont meet grade thresholds.

Other options are aprrenticships, or theres courses like hair and beauty, some courses offer level 1 in healthcare, hospitality, computing, public services etc. Theres loads of options, not passing GCSE's at school is not a huge problem for them, they can still go on to be just as successful!

If she wants to be a dog walker I'd suggest she goes and looks at some animal based college courses. Maybe if she can find something she likes the sound of she would be more motivated. And if she wants to be a dog walker, having some animal based qualifications would only be a benefit. I'd also be clear on the kind of things she'd need in place to be one like insurance and often DBS check. And honestly, a dog walker who doesn't pick up the poo?! I'd imagine her business wouldn't last very long once people got wind of that!

Maybe suggest places she could try part time work like animal shelters or pet shops. Has she already done work experience with school?

The hardest thing is that old saying about leading a horse to water and it's so frustrating.

I had a 16 year old with absolutely no motivation and made it clear they wouldn't be getting an allowance from us while they sat around. Admittedly they did get good grades at GCSE, but then wasted two years at college on a course not tried at or pursued later. Started out with shop work and did ok until they found the mo jo later and something that was of interest, worked hard and now has a really good career.

We can all keep suggesting things, but unless she's prepared to try and to get to college or work on time and to work hard, then it's going to be a few years before she makes any progress. Ruling out early mornings, weekend work or cleaning up after dogs she might walk, means she's not yet got any grasp on reality, but if she doesn't have motivation now, some hard lessons are coming.

All that said, do you think she might be interested in training as a dog groomer?
Dog groomer | Explore Careers | National Careers Service Working under cover, not having to travel between jobs and a regular wage with the opportunity to progress and maybe be her own boss one day. Would have to work weekends though.

There time to turn it around.

Kids have to be educated until 18 these days, whether that is apprenticeship or college or 6th form. They can't just leave school at 16 and loaf around. They won't be able to claim benefits either.

I would sit her down and explain this. Tough love required here, sadly!

A college course maybe level 2 and to pick up the GCSEs or an apprenticeship. Perhaps call the National Careers Service for advice?

I think this is partly because it genuinely didn't used to matter so much, here. There were plenty of opportunities to start at the bottom and work your way up with no exams at all. Expectations of 'the masses' weren't high educationally, and to be honest, in postwar Britain, we needed the labourers.

I don't have a good maths GCSE, and it isn't through lack of effort. But 30 years ago when I left school, it honestly didn't matter. I left home at 18, worked in a factory which paid me enough to live on my own in a nice flat and went from there.

My father left school at 15 with no qualifications at all (not unusual for his generation) and ended up earning a decent wage in senior management having worked his way up.

Sadly, today's youngsters will struggle far more without bits of paper you didn't used to need for everything.

Has she ever had a part time job OP? That’s what she needs in my opinion. If she got a waitressing job it might teach her that she enjoyed hospitality, or it might teach her that she hated it and would be better off studying. Either way it would get her out of this “drift along” lifestyle she’s apparently adopted.

That is is not true. I have a 14 year old who is bright but cannot access a mainstream education and there are no spaces in special schools for academically able children where I am. Local authority is refusing to finalise the EHCP so at 14, her education stopped. the country is full of teens like DC who end up as NEETS because authorities do not do their job.

www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school

Kids must be in school/training until they are 18, so there has to be something out there for the pupils who don’t pass.

Reality is that nobody checks if 16-18 year olds are in education or training.

My son had health issues and didn’t go to school for many months but nobody cared that he was at home and NEET.

He’s now 18 and doing a college course but that’s because he’s in better health, ambitious and has a parent who has encouraged him to progress in life. It would have been easy to let him rot at home and go out to see his friends when they were available but we (him and I) want more than that for him.

If kids are not in education or training, no one cares and nothing happens. DS did not attend school much in Y11, sat very few exams and got a couple of 2s. Now spends days smoking weed at girlfriend’s dad house and no one can or will do anything. If your DSDs want to go to college there will be something for them to do but if they don’t then nothing will happen.

Level 2 course at a further education college is her best bet. Minimum entry at our local one for a 1 year dog grooming course is 4 GCSE grade 3. You then can move onto a Level 3 course. But she will need to clean up after the clients if she does something animal related!
Even if she puts extra work in and goes up to grades 4 or 5 A levels would be a struggle but she may be able to do a level 3 course straight away.
If she likes Art would she consider something like architectural assistant apprentice?

I teach A level RE. Like most subjects it's totally different from GCSE and if she's predicted 3s she'd not cope. Sorry OP. Other posters are right about college courses..there are many out there that cater for those who haven't managed to get their GCSEs.