Parents

Advice & Guidance

All young people are required to remain in some form of education or training until the age of 18. There are so many different options available to them after they finish their GCSEs: Sixth Form, College, Apprenticeship, Traineeship, T-Levels…

Research confirms that young people place a high value on the opinions and views of their parents or carers when it comes to making critical careers choices. 

As a parent, starting conversations as early as possible about career choices and discouraging your child to make last-minute decisions, are proven strategies to make sure your child is making a well-informed decision about their future. 

With a growing number of progression routes and weird and wonderful technical terms, it can sometimes be difficult for you to feel informed enough to support them through the process.

We have created this section on our website so you can be as informed as possible to support your child when it comes to making career choices. 

If you have any questions or require any further information, please call our careers team on 01539 727422 or email us at careers@kksa.co.uk.

  • The National Careers Service was established by the government to allow everyone to access information about careers and finding a job. It offers impartial and extensive information about a range of careers and progression routes.
  • By clicking on the ‘Explore Careers’ button, you can type in the job you are looking for. It will then show you the qualifications and training required for that job. It will also summarise the general duties, skills required and salary for the job you are interested in. https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/ 
  • On the Career Pilot page, you can find out information regarding A-Levels, jobs, college courses, apprenticeships and higher education options. It is a good starting point to find out general information about possible progression routes. https://careerpilot.org.uk/parent-zone 
  • On the All About School Leavers website, you can find information on all the options your child has after year 11 or after their college course. You can search for jobs and apprenticeships and explore different industries to find out more about possible future jobs or progression routes. https://www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk/parents 
  • The National Apprenticeship website is useful if you would like to find out specific information about apprenticeships, including case studies, information about different types of apprenticeships and to search for vacancies both nationally and locally. https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/
  • The UCAS page has useful information on the main page about the choices after school or college and explains things clearly. Through other links on their website you can also search for apprenticeship vacancies and find out how to apply for University. https://www.ucas.com/further-education/post-16-qualifications 
  • The WhatUni website contains lots of useful information for all aspects of the University application process. On their main page, you will find a course search tool which will show you all the universities in the country who offer your course. It will also show you employment rates, drop out rates and entry requirements for each course. https://www.whatuni.com/
  • On the Informed Choices website, you can find out which A-Level choices open up different University course options or which A-Levels are necessary to pursue a particular degree course. https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/ 
  • The school has recently subscribed to the online careers platform Unifrog and parents and carers are able to create their own account to access information on careers, courses, apprenticeships and ways on supporting their child. Information for this has been shared in the July 2023 Careers Update sent home via Edulink. If you require more information on this, please do get in touch.