Your choices at 15-16

You may decide, like many students, that you want to stay in education at the end of Year 11 but other choices exist.

The main options at post 16 are

• Staying in school (your own or another one)
• Going to a college
• Starting an apprenticeships (which combines work and structured training)
• Improving your skills via entry level training, which is usually known as Foundation Learning
• Beginning work

Depending on your choice, you also need to think about:

• What courses to take or what job or apprenticeship you'd like to aim for

Application deadlines

Application dates (for certain courses, apprenticeships, etc) may be earlier than you think - start looking into the various options now.

What next?

• Get a brief idea about possible courses and qualifications from UCAS Progress
• Before you pick your courses, find out if certain jobs or higher education subjects require particular qualifications at this level - get an idea from the job profiles on our World of Work website and Next Step
• If you're thinking about finding a job or an apprenticeship check out our Work & Training section
• Look at Choices at 16 on the Directgov website and download a copy of 'It's Your Choice' - a guide to making your post 16 choices
• If you have additional needs check look at our Forward publication which has information on choices, opportunities and money

Remember: the more research you do, the more chance you'll have of a successful outcome.