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.

The days of being a low skilled office clerk are dying, but have been for a while, you don’t need someone to photocopy reports say they are sent as attachments, many people keep their own filing system digitally.

So the jobs in the OP will be like hen’s teeth, and where they are there will be candidates who do have a handful of decent GCSEs applying as well.

Many graduates in professional starter jobs can’t buy a house after 2-3 years at the moment. Younger home ownership will largely be determined by family money/inheritance but even that will eventually dwindle so house prices will adapt accordingly.

Whilst school might not work for some college, adult further education might, education can be a lifelong pursuit not something that stops at 16/18.

And as for pensions, so many more youngsters are aware of pensions, or at least their parents are, saving small amounts into the pension schemes for when they start work will make a huge difference, the money will have decades to grow.

The children of today wil adapt as each generation does. Having a work ethic, know no matter what you do (with very few exceptions) when you start out you get the crap jobs on the lower pay, but show resilience, reliability, manners, a get on and do because that is the job you are being paid for not the job you think you should have attitude, take any work in the meantime whilst you naval gaze about making it big, have belief in yourself and don’t give up at the smallest hurdle, these sorts of characteristics are what will help all youngsters starting out. The nice cushy, job for life positions, that are still out there will be given to candidates who are reliable, polite, good team player.

It’s far from being just about GCSE results.

I strongly agree with this.
I have a son with SEN and the more lucrative trades like plumbing and electrician are highly skilled qualifications he won't meet the entry criteria for. The job also involves a lot of soft skills he doesn't have.

To me this is more for a route for bright people who didn't find gcses suited them or always wanted this career and had great grades.

Really?
I find that hard to beleive that someone can go onto to have a lucrative career in insurance with no qualifications
Even my uncle whose in his 70,s now snd had a very succseful insurance company ( hes a self made millionsire hsd olevels and Alevels.

This kind of misinformation is why girls shy away from construction.

There are dozens of site jobs which don’t require massive physical strength. Health and safety laws also impose a maximum lifting weight, which even a woman at 5ft2 can do. There are also site labourers who do the bulk of the lifting and carrying. She could be a plumber, electrician, plasterer, joiner, decorator, finisher to name a few. Forklift operator, digger driver, crane operator. None of these require massive physical strength. She could go into one of the more professional jobs, planner, site manager, site agent, quantity surveyor, M&E supervisor, project manager.

These jobs only remain as gender defined roles because people have no idea what construction involves and just tell girls they can’t.

I dont think mumsnet in general understsnds what hsving poor qualificstions mesns
It seems msny think its GCSE, grades 5/6 which is prettty average and and doing level 3 course
Its much hardee for kids with grades 1,s and 2,s at GCSE.

Insurance as an industry covers an enormous range of roles. No, somebody with few qualifications is never going to be an actuary or a litigator. But being a good broker or claims handler is at its roots about soft skills, communication skills, excellent stakeholder relations, problem solving. Theres a huge amount of learning in the job and from those more senior to you, who you generally work very closely alongside.

One of our top Scrum Masters is a genius to watch at work, he can motivate a team like nothing else, make everyone feel all in it together - and what I think really sets him apart is that he he has a brilliant sense of humility: isn’t afraid to take ownership of a mistake, get his own hands dirty and eat the odd shit sandwich where it’s due when he fucks up. That’s the sort of leader people want to work with and are motivated by. That he barely got any GCSEs let alone go to university is irrelevant.

So he,s a pretty average with average grade,s
So yes there will be opportunities for him
Its much harder however for kids who have actual poor grades and are struggling to get at least a grade 4 in maths and english.

#nowrongpath

There are many different ways to enter these careers though. You might eventually work towards a qualification, but you don’t have to go to college straight from school. The vast majority of construction trades are carried out by small, family owned companies, who are far more likely to take on a school leaver and train them up.

But these dsys to get any kind of apprentiship you need at lesst a grade 4 in maths and english
And i suspect we have very differennt views on what " barely " any GCSE,s means.

But then you look at 6th form colleges that will help resits and offer different courses, more practical teaching perhaps, where you don’t have to be actually in if you don’t have class.

It helps if the teenager has a desire to overcome challenges and wants to work hard for little financial if any gain for a while.

There are practical courses at our local college, food, construction, you can go on with minimum GCSEs, but it was emphasised slacking would not be tolerated. These courses have great connections with local business, not small businesses either, no one expects a 16 yr old with low GCSE results to be able to produce architectural drawings, but if after a 2 year course they demonstrate a wilingness to work hard, get stuck in, learn from mistakes, follow instruction, then at 18 they will be in a very different position.

DH is in a trade and it's going to take YEARS before a typical building site becomes woman friendly.

There is so much heavy equipment to carry from A to B, misogynistic attitudes are ever present, there's grim or no toilet provision. DH does something specialist where access is limited, meaning portaloos can't be made available - they literally poo in hedgerows.

Don’t be disheartened. The soft skills may not be as important as you think in many situations. Someone who is able to do the work is valuable nowadays. The soft skills may come as he gets older, they may not but things are changing in workplaces and you’ll find there are more and more people willing to give your son a shot. Find out what he loves and you might be able to find a path for him.

But even those who can only achieve very low grades can’t be silo-ed into the same bucket - they’ll generally have different reasons behind that low attainment, not all of which mean they’re incapable of anything. Yes, there will always be some people who just aren’t very capable at anything at all, and who will struggle through life as a result, and people who have mild and moderate learning disabilities, but that’s not all academically poor or average people. I agree with previous posters that it didn’t really help that the OP merged academically average with special needs, for the sake of this discussion.

I would advise anyone uncertain of a career path, and who isn't classically academic, to become self employed. I'd even advise academic people to do the same - the job market is absolutely shot to pieces and is never going to improve.
Train to be a hairdresser, dog groomer, foot care technician, ear wax remover, guttering clearer, chimney sweep, window cleaner, car valeter, jet washer - anything that means you can do it for yourself with little to no overheads.

He massively struggled at school. Had to go back to college to pass maths. Barely got any GCSEs. There are opportunities out there. He’s worked bloody hard to get where he is and has done amazing for himself

Im speaking from exerience my sons at college he had a teribble year in year 11 due to ill health and isnt academic anyway ,getting on a two year course still requires some grades and often they wont let a student move up if they still hsvent pssed maths and English.

I don't think people realise how hard the funding agreement around having a 4 in gcses maths and English, has made things for students wanting to do a FE course.

Agree. Plus the fact that the new T-Levels are more 'academic' than the older BTEC Extended Diplomas.

I have dyslexia along with moderate learning difficulties. I did used to work in a school kitchen as a kitchen assistant.

I wouldn't be able to be a plumber for example because maths needs to be used ie pipe sizing angles etc . I can't drive so could not do parcel delivery.

I have no GCSE or simlar. I just went to a special needs school and then left with nothing.

Ds is almost 10 he has autism and learning difficulties he's working at around year 1 level. I don't know what the future holds for him. I don't know if the education system is any better for children with SEN is any better than when I was a kid . I hope it's better. I hope one day ds will pick up education wise but I don't know if he will.

It doesn’t matter if I know what she means, she needs to be mindful of what she says.

Agreed and so much has chsnged from a generstion ago .
I trained as a nurse 30 years ago these days i would need Alevels etc
I needed 5 GCSE,s at grade c or above including English and maths or a science
Having always struggled with maths they accepted my two Science C grsdes as an alternative but times change.

And even more kids are unable to have any kind of career at all. Many SEN parents when thinking about what the future looks like are worrying if their children will ever be continent, or able to read at all. Who will look after them when I die as they can’t do anything independently. Lumping those children in with children who aren’t particularly academic is really shortsighted.

That’s what many of us are worrying about when it comes to the question “what does the future look like for SEN kids”. Not that there won’t be entry level admin jobs.

My exact thoughts as well.

Agreed my 18 year old has slways struggled academically and seems to be a bit lost at college but thats a world away from his severly autistic non verbal brother.

Theres quite a few adults with SEN working at supermarkets, 5 I know (one neighbour who is a delivery driver and four ex colleagues from when I had a second job at a supermarket) went to specialist schools.
There was a few others with traits but no idea if they were diagnosed or not. It was a large supermarket.
Low achieving peers from school without SEN seemed to go into building work, care work, nursery work. Not sure if they progressed or changed jobs.