Post A levels but no uni, what to do..?

[hesaidshesaidtheysaid]

My 19yr DS didn't do so well in his A levels and subsequently lost his uni place.

He has decided to take a break from education but is a bit lost as to what to do for now. (He has a casual part time job atm), all his friends are off at Uni and he's on his own quite a bit.

We've been talking about some kind of volunteering work and looking at the workaway site. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of volunteering or any other ideas that he might consider?

Heck I'd work full time for six months, save like fury and go travelling! Then figure things out when he comes back.

My dd took a gap year. She worked as a barista and saved enough to travel at the end plus keep her car on the road. She's gone to uni really motivated to study again and enjoyed all the driving experience which she can't do during term time at her uni. I know that driving isn't a job like volunteering but she has grown to really love it and it's probably one of the highlights of the year.

She suffered terrible FOMO when her peers went in September /October and had pangs of jealousy when they met at the pub at Christmas but she's enjoying uni life now. I think it's really hard when they feel in limbo - I'm expecting dd to return to that state when she has to consider a career or masters in a couple of years time.

Mine have done structured travel trips with organisations followed by staying on with new people they've met. Has been brilliant.
Plus I'd look at apprenticeships?

Can he look into apprenticeships? He must have pretty good gcces if he was doing a levels so could possibly get on a decent apprenticeships. Degree apprenticeships also exist.

What do you mean by structured, was this something you planned with them or was it an organisation?

Yes to apprenticeships, I think he'll end up on that route eventually which I think is a great idea

That's what he'll probably end up doing it just he feels that still educational at the moment, I think it's life experience he's lacking.

Youth is definitely wasted on the young 🤦🏻‍♀️

@hesaidshesaidtheysaid organised by a young people's tour company - trips, hostels, activities and then either come home or stay and carry on with people you meet. Lots of advice on bank accounts, phones, local stuff.

A higher degree apprenticeship will let him earn, gain skills whilst getting a qualification. Three in one so a good choice in my opinion than just a low skilled job. If he wants to work then he might as well get a qualification & practical vocational skills at the same time.

@OneFrenchEgg thank you, that's the kind of thing I'm looking for, any particular recommendations for tour operators?

What does he want to do? What did he want to study at Uni? There are access courses or college courses worth looking at?

At the moment he doesn't want to go back to studying, that's why we were looking at volunteering work, possibly overseas, so he can gain some life and culture experiences.

www.gap360.com

Feel free to message me if you want

Sounds like a good plan. Maybe convince him to research apprenticeships as well as travel and volunteering options so that he doesn't end up drifting about. May be worth him making contact with Princes Trust as they run lot of programmes for young people.

Am I missing something. He's an adult and not in education- would full time work not be the obvious next step?

@Untitledsquatboulder yeah, like a gap year before he commits to either further education, apprenticeship or full time work. He has saved some money and it would do him good to experience life before the rat race begins for him!

An apprenticeship? Lots of great opportunities and earn as you learn.

@hesaidshesaidtheysaid What did your DS do in the end?

My DD has done workaway 3 times now. Three very different placements. The first was with a family au pairing, the 2nd working in a school. Currently DD is doing the grape harvest in Germany and loving it. She has met so many different people, learnt lots of new skills and practised her language skills. She ended up doing a MFL at university as part of her degree even though she had not done a MFL at A level.

That's brilliant @Aslockton. Well done to your DD.

My DS got good A Level results and is still not going to Uni

I am very happy about that.

Times have changed, Uni is not the natural next step for young people that it used to be if they could afford it.

He hated school stuff, revising, exams.

He's just finishing a 3 month internship at a London PR IT agency which has been brilliant and paid him well.

He's then going to work full time in a winery and a wedding venue and save money to then go travelling next March. Then find a full time job.

I don't really want my second DS to go to Uni either, but he wants to work in the film industry and apprenticeship places in that are really hard to get, so he'll probably end up getting a degree in that field.

My dd was going to do a volunteering trip with kaya, it never went ahead due to covid but seemed like such a good opportunity for a very reasonable cost. Might be worth a look.

id probably encourage him to work full time for a few months and then go off and do something that’ll give him
life experiences. He can then look into an apprenticeship or something after that. This may also be a good time to get driving under his belt if he isn’t already on the road.