Several participants discussed that local universities had visited their school for workshops , with one participant specifically referencing SUN .
Participants acknowledged the importance of receiving good careers advice at school and were generally satisfied ( although not in all cases ) with the advice that they had received . Their generally positive portrayal of careers advice should also been in the context of their positive experiences of schooling in general ( with one participant from school C being the exception to this ). In terms of how advice could be improved , several suggestions were made ; the most cited being the need for earlier advice ( particularly around GCSE choices ). Other suggestions included making the advice more specific to the learner , more frequent advice , and being presented with more options .
Perhaps surprisingly , given that 83 % of young people aged 12-15 in the UK have their own smartphone and 99 % of them go online for nearly 21 hours a week ( Ofcom , 2017 ), there appeared to be limited use of career websites ( although participants often indicated they had been given websites to look at ). This appeared to revolve around the perceived value in such sites .
Knowledge of apprenticeships
In terms of apprenticeships , participants were aware of them as an option and generally spoke about them in a positive way . Participants were able to outline several benefits of undertaking an apprenticeship . This revolved around :
Earning a wage ; Work experience ; Working and learning at the same time .
Participants were able to identify numerous disciplines ( predominantly Level 2 and 3 ) in which an apprenticeship could be undertaken in , ranging from hair and beauty , media , engineering , and sport ( see appendices ). No distinction was made between craft and technical apprenticeships and only one participant made explicit reference to degree apprenticeships .
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