When Can I leave School?

You cannot legally work full time until the end of year 11. If you work full time before this date, you are not covered by insurance if you have an accident

The main choices between 16 to  18 years are:

Education

Stay on at school, and enter the 6th form, if your school has one; go to another school’s sixth form; go to college.

Are aged 16 - 19

Want to study full time next year at college or school to gain further qualifications or want to begin work related training

To check out details and order a pack – log onto

Planning Your Future

There are lots of different choices to be made and options to be considered when you reach school leaving age. Do you stay at school? Go to college? Leave education and look at what Apprenticeships have to offer? Sometimes options can be combined. Whatever you choose, it is likely that you will need to do some further training, as most employers now require skilled, better trained people – and may offer young people the chance to gain additional skills and qualifications whilst working for them. You might find yourself not doing any of these things for a number of reasons, such as illness, unemployment, pregnancy or because you chose to take a year out. The last part of this section looks at these issues.

Foundation Learning

This is a programme of learning, designed to help young people achieve a level 1 qualification including functional skills, which will prepare them for progression to level 2. To access the programme, speak to your Personal Adviser.

Volunteering

Working to help others or local communities can help you too!