
Your choices at 18 years old
So what are your choices at 18 years old?
After undertaking your A-Levels, vocational qualifications or apprenticeship, you now have the choice to:
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Remain in further education or adult community education
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Continue onto higher education
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Undertake an apprenticeship or progress onto the next level (if already on an apprenticeship)
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Undertake a traineeship to gain work experience and work ready skills
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Find a job
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Set up your own business
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Gain experience through volunteering
Plymouth’s Apprenticeship Opportunities Bulletin for School Leavers – August 2020
What qualification levels and pathways mean
https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
Financing further study
What a bursary is for
A bursary is money that you, or your education or training provider, can use to pay for things like:
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clothing, books and other equipment for your course
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transport and lunch on days you study or train
If you’re 19 and over:
You could get a discretionary bursary if you either:
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are continuing on a course you started aged 16 to 18 (known as being a ’19+ continuer’)
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have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
How can I find further details:
Colleges can provide advice on the process to apply for funding
For further education:
https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan
For higher education:
https://www.gov.uk/student-finance
Advice for navigating your way to University or College
https://nextstepssw.ac.uk/resources/category/years-1213/
https://nextstepssw.ac.uk/covid-19-your-questions-answered/
Useful links to support choosing your next steps at 18 years old with Skills Launchpad Plymouth
Make sure you feel ready to get back out there – check out the support available if you are feeling anxious, confused, lost or overwhelmed
Local further education colleges
Local adult and community learning providers
- Focus Training Group
- Greenlight Safety Consultancy
- LiveWest
- Mount Batten Watersports and Activities Centre
- ODILS Learning Foundation
- On Course South West
- Shekinah Mission
- Sunflower Women’s Centre
Local higher education institutions
Student guide to Post18 qualification results 2020
We understand how unsettling the last few months may have been for you, since schools, colleges and other providers were closed to many and exams were cancelled.
This guide should help you understand how results have been awarded this year and where to find more information.