Parents & Carers

An increasingly competitive job market, high youth unemployment, and rising fees for higher education all impact on a young person’s plans, making it even more important for them to make the right choices for their education, training, and employment.

As they make choices and plans, young people need support from the people who know them best, their families. There are many ways that parents can offer support with choices. Here are a few ideas for parents:

• Talk to your child about careers they are interested in. Find out what they know already and encourage them to find out more. Talking futures or The Parents Guide
• Encourage your child to find out about what courses, jobs and training opportunities are available locally using the sources available to them.
• Visit the Unifrog platform with your child and discuss their interests, skills, and qualities. Encourage them to engage with local labour market information and recognise important employability skills.
• Find out what choices your child must make in Year 9.
• Make the most of open day opportunities it is important to explore all the options.
• Encourage your child to investigate alternative pathways such as Apprenticeships and traineeships so they are fully informed of all options available.
• Get involved with plans for post-16 study. If your child is intending to enter further education, they need to plan carefully. They need to think about:
  • what subject/s they want to study?
  • which institutions offer relevant courses
  • whether the program of study suits their needs?
  • will their expected GCSE grades be enough?
  • whether there is a work placement as part of the course

It is important to support your child to reach their own decisions about their future. Providing support and encouragement is immensely important and the more you know about the information, advice and guidance that is available and where it can be accessed the better.