Good luck to everyone who sat their GCSEs and are reading their results today. It’s a big day for students as well as parents, teachers and carers who support these young people with their future studies and career choices.
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification, taken in a number of subjects by students in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ever thought of working in law? There are many different routes into working in a law firm (either as a fee earner or in a support role). Pathways into the legal profession are further down in this blog but why not read here about how the ILFM can support you if you are thinking about law and finance.
What can 16-year-olds in the UK do after their GSCEs have finished?
There are many options available to you after leaving school if A-Levels or university isn’t affordable or even “your thing”. With more organisations on board pushing for easier mobility for careers no matter your background, there are so many routes to having a varied and rewarding career ahead. Including working in a law firm!
Here are some of the most common paths that people take when they have finished their GSCE year:
England’s Rules on 16-year olds’ choices after exams
You can leave school on the last Friday in June if you’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.
You must then do one of the following until you’re 18:
- Go to sixth form or college: Sixth Form is still part of a school, whereas a college is not. Both offer further education, and you can gain qualifications this way.
- Do an apprenticeship or a traineeship: These help you learn new skills and set you up for the working world. They’re good if you don’t want to give up learning but have had enough of traditional education.
- Spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training. This is where the ILFM qualifications can really help as our studies are via a correspondence course with a dedicated tutor. Work, get paid and still study!
English students receiving their GCSE results today can be proud of their achievements. There has been a return to pre-pandemic grading in England this summer, with grading protection in place to recognise the disruption that students have faced.
Wales’ Rules on 16-year olds’ choices after exams
You can leave school on the last Friday in June, as long as you’ll be 16 by the end of that school year’s summer holidays.
Wales reviewed its GCSEs and changes will impact current Year 7 pupils who will be the first to study the new GCSEs when they reach Year 10 in September 2025, sitting exams in 2027. An exciting new time in the Welsh school curriculum.
Northern Ireland’s Rules on 16-year olds’ choices after exams
If you turn 16 during the school year (between 1 September and 1 July) you can leave school after 30 June.
If you turn 16 between 2 July and 31 August, you can’t leave school until 30 June the following year.
The number of top grades in Northern Ireland’s exam results fell in 2021/22 as public exams returned, but results were still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Exam regulators said they expect a similar trend this year so it will be interesting to keep an eye out on this.
WHAT DOES SUCCESS MEAN TO YOU?
The anticipation of waiting to read your exam results can be overwhelming and none of us can ever really understand what it was like, apart from the students themselves, having navigated their way through a global pandemic.
A career in law is an option that so many of our students and members never thought about when they did their GSCEs (and pre GSCEs some of us sat O’ Levels!). That was historically deemed as for the affluent only, or those that got the great A’ Levels and could knuckle down to university life. That just isn’t the case anymore, there are so many pathways into working in law, and the ILFM is one of them, although of course university studies are still a great way of entering life in law. That said, there’s nothing quite like working in a firm whilst studying to really understand the practical side of the profession!
Earn Whilst You Learn
Whether you’re interested in the financial side of working in a law firm or practising the actual law itself, there’s not only the ILFM’s route to law firm success, but CILEx and ILPSA offer alternative to university pathways that are acknowledged and held in high esteem legal recruiters and law firm alike. There are, of course, more law firms opening up placement apprenticeships too.
There’s always the marketing side of a law firm too – one for the creatives or data driven amongst you.
Do your research and think about what you enjoy doing and what careers might interest you. You are allowed to change your mind – gone are the days of going into banking forever! We all started somewhere and so many of our ILFM Members said they “fell into” legal accounting careers and loved studying on our correspondence courses whilst working.
Whatever you do, the ILFM wish you the best and if we can ever help with career choice advice, please do get in touch with our Qualifications Manager, Helen Cockburn here HELEN@ilfm.org.uk
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