Student Options Post 16 & 18

As part of our drive for excellence all students in years 10 and 12 will receive an invitation to an appointment with a CDi Qualified careers advisor who is independent from the school to give bespoke, impartial advice of the options available at to students at 16 and 18 as well as support on how to apply for those opportunities

Post 16

Deciding what to study after your GCSEs and where needs careful thought. The film below gives an overview of your options. At St Cuthbert Mayne, we offer a range of A level and Level 3 vocational qualifications. Please see our sixth form page for details.

All Year 11 students will have a 1 to 1 meeting with our SLT and additional support for SEND students will be arranged by Mrs Toohey. To arrange a careers 1:1 meeting, please contact careers@stcm.torbay.sch.uk

Apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is an opportunity to work and study at the same time. Most of your time is spent doing on-the-job training, and the rest is spent working towards a qualification. You’ll get paid a salary and be part of a team, just like a standard employee, but you’ll also get dedicated study time throughout the week.

The qualification you can achieve could vary from the equivalent to GCSEs, to a master’s degree depending on the level of apprenticeship you take. There are different types or levels of apprenticeships depending on where you are in the UK. Each level apprenticeship will have different entry requirements.

T Levels

T Levels are an alternative to A levels, apprenticeships and other 16 to 19 courses. Equivalent in size to 3 A levels, a T Level focuses on vocational skills and can help students into skilled employment, higher study or apprenticeships.

Each T Level includes an in-depth industry placement that lasts at least 45 days. Students get valuable experience in the workplace; employers get early sight of the new talent in their industry.

T Level students spend 80% of the course in their learning environment, gaining the skills that employers need. The other 20% is a meaningful industry placement, where they put these skills into action.

Find out more about T-Levels

Post-18

If you are about to choose your options at 18 there are plenty of things to choose from. The choices you make will be affected by many things like your financial situation, interests, your attitude to study, your qualifications, the job market, etc.

Another big factor is the job or career you have in mind and now is a good time to really get into the detail about which job sectors you are interested in, what sort of opportunities they offer and what qualifications they are looking for.

Choices you could consider at 18:

Doing a higher education level course – either full-time, part-time or by distance learning, at a university or a college
Doing an Intermediate, Advanced, Higher or Degree Apprenticeship
Getting a job that offers training
Doing a vocational course at a Further Education College
Taking a year out (a gap year)

As always, getting advice and support from those who know you or are career specialists is very important, as is finding out about the different employment options available to you and the qualifications and skills you need for a particular career.

MOOCs

MOOCs are a recent development which aim to use new technologies to bring free, short learning opportunities to large numbers of people worldwide. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course.

You do not need qualifications to start these courses. The courses are a chance to try something new, develop an area of interest, learn something which will help you get the job or course you want, etc. Although the courses might not offer a formal qualification, the knowledge gained from doing one could help you prepare for a higher-education-level course or help you choose a course.

By completing a MOOC you will gain skills and knowledge that can boost your CV or UCAS personal statement.

FutureLearn offer a diverse selection of free, high-quality online courses from some of the world’s leading universities and other outstanding cultural institutions. The aim is to connect learners from all over the globe with high-quality educators and with each other.

FutureLearn has developed a new set of ‘FutureLearn Choices’ courses, which last for three to eight weeks. These are taster courses to give school leavers a real sense of universitylevel study.

Courses to help students secure a place at university: