Son wants to do an apprenticeship after leaving school but what if he doesnt get accepted on to one?

[Boredandlonely9182]

My son leaves school next year and my husband and I feel pretty clueless on next steps. We both just went to sixth form and then uni along with all our friends . Was seen as the done thing 20 years ago. I had some friends at school who left at 16 and started work straight away and have done really well for themselves.
Our son is not academic at all. Hated school and cant wait to leave. He is in the bottom set for all lessons and is predicted 3's ,4's and 5's across his gcses. He also has adhd and we also think he is on the spectrum aswell but no diagnosis for that yet.
He thinks an apprenticeship would be the best option. As more hands on and just one day a week at college.
There is no point whatsoever in him taking A levels or attending a college 5 days a week as he will either give up and stop going, or will go but likely not to pass the a levels.
We dont really know what is available for him to do? When should we start applying for apprenticeships? And what if it takes a long time for him to be accepted on to one and he leaves school with nothing to move on to?
And if he fails maths and English where would he resit them? Hoping someone can advise us. Thanks

I'm not sure how useful this will be (depending on what he ends up applying for exactly), but my dad teaches electrical at an FE college. He'll generally have about 60 students. They're mostly 16-18 who applied for apprenticeships and didn't get them... because there aren't enough about. He says by the time they've finished a Level 3 course, about 50 are "employable", the remaining 10 lack motivation to do anything and are still immature. Of that 50, most will be aiming to get an apprenticeship and only 5-10 actually will be offered one. These are kids that have done an A Level equivalent in the trade they're applying for. He said if those 5-10 most have some connection to trades e.g. their dad is a plumber and knows an electrician willing to take on an apprentice. He said it was the same, give or take, across all of the trades the college offered. It's really really sad. I teach secondary and whenever lads tell me about applying for apprenticeships, I always suggest they get a back-up because there just aren't enough.

In England, you have to be in some form of education until 18. That's been the case for about a decade. The small print is it only needs to be about a day a week, so practically, you could work full time and have a day in a college or some other form of training.

@Boredandlonely9182 get him to look on the government lists and see what the timings and criteria are. Then go from there:

www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/browse-by-interests

I would see if you can get in touch with the local colleges. You mite be surprised at what they offer, the one local to us is the training base for local apprenticeships so they also advertise them. Also most colleges do only 3 days a week, the idea being that students can have part-time jobs as well. A lot of course maybe very practical based, there maybe some exams but with B-Techs the courses can also contain a lot of course work/practical work, depending on the course.

It does sound like not doing sixth form would be a good idea, but I wouldn't totally rule out college until you've had a good look. Then if he doesn't manage to get an apprenticeship there is a fallback choice.

At his age (under 19) he will be required to have or achieve English and maths, Functional Skills can often be completed as part of his apprenticeship.
His diploma in engineering will also be favourable, if he is seeking an apprenticeship in this area.

National Apprenticeship Week runs 9-15 February, there will likely be lots of local colleges, training providers and employers who will be providing information about the benefits of an apprenticeship. In addition the gov apprenticeship website allows you to view/apply for apprenticeships in your local area (hopefully linked below). I would start looking on there now for ideas of what type of apprenticeship he may be interested in. It’s also a good way to identify local employers who you could approach directly, in turn demonstrating a proactive attitude - which could make him stand out, especially if there is high demand.

My advice would be to apply via a training provider or employer route, I have found them to be more invested in the apprentice than a college. Just my personal experience.

Apprenticeships are a fantastic route, they offer so much to the apprentice and better prepare them for the world of work without being left with a huge debt.

Best of luck to your son, he’s very lucky to have such supportive parents.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

@SeraphinaGia your post is so helpful - I’ve been looking into apprenticeships for my 17.5 year-old nephew (dyspraxia/ADHD) who is struggling with A-levels and still trying for his GCSE English. He is becoming less and less motivated, but wants to “make a difference”. I’m hoping to take him to the National Apprentice Show, but also wondering about Supported Internships.

https://nationalapprenticeshipshow.org/

https://web.cvent.com/event/eedbb7cd-35ac-424f-94da-7bf783aa96e9/summary

If you are in or near London.

My son is an apprentice electrician. This is certainly his experience too, his backup plan was to do the level 1 course at college and apply again as he was told that apprenticeships are “as rare as hen’s teeth”. He was fortunate and secured an apprenticeship but he was also 18 and already had level 3 qualifications as well GCSEs. He’s in his second year now but he said some joined their college days having done the equivalent of the first year as college students.
I think the same kind of backup plan would be sensible for your ds. It wouldn’t be FT, I think they said L1 electrical was 2 days (and time to resit English and Maths if needed).
Local colleges will have details of apprenticeships as the government apprentice website.
I don’t think people realise how difficult it is to get an apprenticeship.

My son who is 19 this year, didn’t get an apprenticeship straight away, he failed his gcse English so was limited in our area. He did go to college to do course in the construction field rarely is it a 5 day a week course for this type of courses. He was in 3 days a week not the full day and that included him retaking his gcse English. If he wasn’t resitting he would have only been in 2 days. He actually really enjoyed it snd those kind of courses are more practical learning based than typical classroom sitting at a desk kinda course and gave him an extra year to look for apprenticeship and to decide what he wanted to do so I would defo look at that being an option, I wouldn’t write it off yet. Also depending on the area you live depends on how easy getting an apprenticeship will be. Where we live it was hard, not enough for the amount of people seeking and applying for them. Xx

His adhd is probably causing problems with concentration so he gets labelled as ‘not academic’. With the right help I’m sure he can pass maths and English

if he goes to college to do a vocational course he will not be in a classroom 5 days a week
So get that out of your and his head.

College courses tend to be 4 days at most, possibly 3 if he doesn't need to resit maths/English.
Of those 3 actual course days a good chunk, up to a third, will be hands on practical. The others will be the theory around what he needs for the practical.
The other day he can get work experience somewhere or a part time job. Positively encouraged.

If applying for apprenticeships He should apply to colleges as a backup.

Life will be easier if he can get those maths and English passes first time, so do try for that.

On the Further Education board there is a helpful vocational courses thread.

Top apprenticeship employers include BAE systems and the army. It's never too early to start looking, getting work experience and building up a relationship with potential employers.

It's worth looking at T levels too.

My friends son was looking at engineering apprenticeships but ended up doing T levels. It's applied learning plus 300hours of hands on placement experience (more than a btec). He was also done with education but is loving the college atmosphere and approach.

If you read the vocational thread on Further Education you will read about many young people who didn't enjoy school blossoming on their chosen courses.

We have a few apprentices at work, and one of them just doesn’t know how to behave in an office.
Sprawling his legs out from underneath the desk while looking at me. I’ve had the bad luck of sitting next to him twice, so, it’s not a one off.
Falling asleep at his desk.
Basically doing fuck all, all day.

He doesn’t have the good sense to say to himself, i’ve sod all to do, so i’ll speak to my LM’.

He could probably behave like this at school and get away with it, but he’s supposed to be a grown up now, so he needs to act like it.

Most apprentices can be taken on with the view to sit functional skills as part of their coursework if they don't hit maths and English targets. Even normal college courses will take student who didn't meet the pass criteria but they will resit GCSE at the end of the course year (there are some exceptions to this but more academic based subjects).
Go to the GOV website and it will tell you all the current application options for apprenticeships starting in September. Local engineering companies will always be on the look out for apprentices too and job fayres etc. are great places to go to connect with those kinds of companies. Where I live there is a very big job fayre held in a hotel with several different engineering companies in attendance, almost always looking for an apprentice. I.T is another good option for an apprentice but does involve more requirements for Maths GCSE I believe.

I completed 2 apprenticeships before I was 20.

Thank you I’m glad you found it helpful.

I haven’t had any direct experience of supported internships, from what I know they are more closely supported when an EHCP is in place. It certainly sounds like this could be the perfect solution for your lad by reading your post about his current position and how he feels.

Great start with the Apprenticeship shows, I would also look at your local authorities website for info, national charities and the link below, hopefully these will help.

It’s so refreshing to see the support being given. All the best and I hope he secures the right placement for him, in a role that he can make a difference.
He sounds like a lovely young man, and a credit to you!

https://www.ndti.org.uk/resource/what-are-supported-internships-2/

@Ithinkofawittyusernamethenforgetit I believe that Supported Internships are only for students with an EHCP. My DD is on one at the moment.

My son in law is a welder and he needed certain subject passes to get in. (Scotland) . He also had to pass tests and go through a rigorous assessment and interview. He then underwent a four year apprenticeship which involved college one day a week and studying too. Your son will be vying with others, many of whom will have subject qualifications.

He has an EHCP, really disappointed with his college that just keeps pushing A-levels but he struggles with exams and especially essays. Hope your daughter is enjoying hers!

He needs to speak to his school careers adviser. They will be knowledgeable about the options locally. They have an obligation to provide impartial advice and guidance so they’ll be looking at the best option for your son.

Can you afford to get him some tutoring for English and Maths? If he can secure a pass in both that will hugely improve his options. Is he medicated for the ADHD? My son started meds Y9 and has gone from 3s and 4s to 6/7 predictions in Y11. We’ve looked around local colleges for options and been impressed, lots of very interesting vocational courses but it does mean you need to have some idea what route to head down. You apply directly to the institution, not via the LA, so you can have multiple options open at the same time.

If you’re in England there’s no such thing as a local careers service anymore. And anyway, your local careers service was the organisation providing schools with careers advisers!

There are careers companies who are contracted to provide careers guidance to schools but they don’t tend to have a presence outside of that as there is no government funding.

Local authority funded careers services were replaced by the National Careers Service but anyone still in education would be better off using what on offer at the school/college as they’re likely to be better qualified and knowledgeable about the local labour market and education landscape.

He will be given day release to attend college while he completes his apprenticeship. But he will have to pass them before the end of the course to get his apprenticeship. They usually do functional skills rather than GCSEs, which are much easier.