To wonder what opportunities are there for less academic / SEN kids

[Mrs1234]

Just wonder what sort of future an average kid, with average grades can expect in this country?

My workplace was full of people who started in a low clerical jobs after leaving school and have stuck at it for 35 years and are now close to retiring. The all have final salary pensions and were able to purchase a house within 2-3 years of starting. They are all very financially secure, despite working in a relatively low skilled job.

these jobs have now all been offshored so every single new role is undertake in India. I was probably one of the last people to join the dept in the UK - and i missed out on the final salary pension.

Sorry but “average kids with average grades” and SEN kids are not remotely the same thing.

“What is the future for SEN kids” is a completely different question to “what is the future for average kids with low career aspirations”.

A lot will depend on their work ethic, will they be reliable, can they learn just not necessarily academic tasks. Could they drive?

There are so many different types of jobs not just starter clerical jobs.

Agree.

'Average kids with average grades' is different from 'less academic' and a world away from 'SEN'

I'd be interested to see what people have to say about this.

Agree SEN is not remotely the same as average grades, but I think OP probably just means any kid with less than stellar grades.

I apologise - I was talking about children who couldnt get grades to get into university - I release that some SEN do go to uni and have well paying careers.

I was talking about children who couldnt get grades to get into university

That is about half the population. Shops, services, sales, trades to start with.

Try being someone without GCSEs who wants to work.

You class people who don't go to university as having special educational needs?
I am not sure you understand what SEN is.

Plumbers, electricians, gas fitters, cooks, chefs, retail, hospitality. Also beauty, nails, hair. Some call centre some manufacturing or farm.

The problem is that there are literally thousands of jobs out there which can actually be quite lucrative but are quite doable by people who don't have qualifications. I'm talking about the trades - plumbing, sewing, tiling, plastering, basic engineering. We are having to import these skills as we don't have people willing to do manual work. As a nation we (society and our education system) need to look at the skills mix and find ways to encourage kids down these routes.

If they have practical skills and are physically strong there are lots of trades jobs eg bricklaying, ,man and a van.Nowadays there are more graduates than graduate jobs so trades people often earn more and don't have student debt.

If you mean young people who are generally switched on and have good soft skills and social skills, just aren’t really book learners, I think there are quite a lot of opportunities. A lot of my friends are in tech and because there’s such a focus on initiative and entrepreneurship, there’s a huge amount of scope for people who are smart and show ingenuity to get a foot in the door, as many founders do not themselves have particularly strong academic backgrounds.

I’m in insurance. A significant proportion of our trainee intake for claims and consumer duty every year are school leavers who are perfectly capable and great with stakeholders, just not necessarily good at classroom style teaching or exams. It’s an interesting line of work, with good career prospects, and rewards those with strong skills in communication and focus. There are also lots of opportunities to work closely alongside people of all ages and levels of experience and seniority and learn on the job, which I think is really beneficial for young people.

You knew what she meant tho.

My daughter has SEN, unlikely she’ll get the grades to go to university. I do feel she’s at a disadvantage to boys, in that they can earn £70k a year in a trade. It’s limited for girls. I’m going to support her and hope she’ll get on to some kind of apprenticeship that will give her an enjoyable career.

And before anyone says it: my daughter does not want to be a plumber.

Both my children are academically challenged. It's a worry. I think all I can do is expose them to opportunities and they find something they love to do.
If that happens then we'll have won life's lottery.
It is hard when all you know is A'Levels, University, professional office-based work. None of my experience is of any use - apart from research skills.

I think it's going to be hard for people too for there to be much less of that type of work..

There are of course jobs that have a physical element to them, but not everyone is suited to that type of work and some jobs are much more anti social than a nice basic office job.

It's really tough being self employed, getting clients, chasing payments etc. And doing the same type of role as an employee isn't always as well paid.

I also think people forget if all the people that are currently doing entry level office work go and do these roles instead ot might lower the wages anyway.

It really isn't limited for girls! Why can't she do a trade? There's a huge market for female gardeners/plumbers/decorators etc. Women have just as many opportunities in this field if they want to do it. It is society's role to bring young people up to just see a job as a job rather than a 'male job' or a 'female job' that we had 50 years ago.

I wonder about the seemingly growing number of kids who have borderline SEN, struggle with large mainstream schools but fall in that gap where specialist SEN schools are not appropriate. At least one of my DDs falls into that category and has ASD. Kids whose social skills, soft skills and communication is not great. Academically I'm hoping she'll be able to get some GCSEs to be able to access some post 16 education but tbh it's the soft skills and social skills that worry me more.

And there seem to be so many kids in similar situations, many being home educated etc. I do worry about her future and wonder what type of job will suit.

@HoskinsChoicei completely agree with you. There shouldn’t be gender defined roles - except there are. My daughter does not want to be on a building site surrounded by men. She’s going to be around 5’2’’ it’s completely unrealistic to think that she can take on a physical job like hod carrying - even if she wanted to. All power to the girls and women who want this, but my daughter isn’t one of them.

All of wich require at least a grade 4 at maths and english which is a stumbling block for many kids

I agree with this. I’ve worked in insurance and financial services all my life. It’s often overlooked as a career but there are opportunities to start at the bottom and work up.

People in the trades do have qualifications though?! It frustrates me when it seems that people think trades are only for people not clever enough for university, like a lesser career choice. Whereas the skill involved in being a good tradesperson is high and involves a lot of training.

Yes we did. And that doesn’t make it any better.

We have a female plumber who does very well. She only takes on jobs that fit in the school day. Smart woman.

Labouring, possibly unrealistic for many women. Some other trades, less so: the last housing association I worked for, our electrical contractor was owned and managed by a woman who also employed many women. There’s a real demand for female trades from those who don’t always feel comfortable having strange men in their homes, or just perceive that women will be more sensitive to their needs, take better care, and even just tidy up after themselves.

Yes, it’s skilled and requires qualifications, but plenty of academically average young people are perfectly clever and capable of that, just never found their way in a rigid school environment.

My friends son is an average/below average kid. Failed his maths GCSE. Didn’t get good grades in the others. Had some SEN, speech therapy. But not autism or neurodivergent.
He got an apprenticeship as a pipe fitter, currently earning £27k with all his travel expenses paid, accommodation paid, food allowance paid. He’s already saved the best part of £20k towards a house. He’s 21.