Top advice on choosing a career (From The Bolton News)

Top advice on choosing a career

11:25am Tuesday 2nd May 2006

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CHOOSING a career is not the easiest decision to make. Exam season will soon be here and many young people in Bolton will be faced with deciding what they are going to do next.

The Aimhigher road show, which forms part of the government's higher education initiative, is due to visit schools in Bolton.

Angela Workman finds out exactly what it is all about WHAT to do with life after school is an issue that all young people eventually face. It is often a difficult decision and advice on different options and further qualifications from someone who has recently been in a similar situation can prove invaluable.

Every year many young people in the UK leave school at 16 with little or no idea of what they are going to do next. In 2000 the Government's Aimhigher initiative was launched in an attempt to combat this issue and encourage more young people to continue into further and higher education.

Aimhigher primarily targets young people from backgrounds where traditionally university is not always considered.

This includes lower income backgrounds and people who have little or no family experience of university or college. Events for students are run on both a national and local level and aim to let young people know that further qualifications can help them to get their dream job. One of the most popular strands of the campaign is the Aimhigher Road Show which tours the country during the school year.

There are five roadshows that cover England including one that is dedicated to the North-west. They are staffed by recent graduates from Aimhigher backgrounds who talk to Year nine and Year 12 pupils about what they want to do when they leave school or college and the benefits of gaining further qualifications.

The roadshow came to the town in September, when representatives talked to students from Bolton Sixth Form. They are due to visit again on May 25 and 26 and will talk to pupils at Smithills School and Bolton Technical Innovation Centre..

The roadshow provides a popular alternative to school lessons as it is set in a futuristic trailer where the students sit on silver bean bags and work on laptops. The sessions also involve watching a film about the realities of university life and the students are given an opportunity to talk to someone in an informal atmosphere who has been to university themselves.

Many students prefer this as they feel they can be themselves and also that the presenter will really tell it how it is'.

Nationwide the road show comes into contact with 2,500 young people every week and when it comes to Bolton, more than 200 Year nine pupils will benefit.

Talking to students in this way helps to dispel myths about university which they may have heard from others. It is especially important this year as from September 2006 the way in which students pay for university is changing.

Matthew Davenport, who presents the roadshow in the North-west said that he finds "finance is especially important to the Year 12 pupils as they are thinking about going to university within a couple of years, but even the Year nine are concerned and have often heard information that is untrue''.

So what is happening in 2006? Matthew said: "The important thing to remember is that although fees are increasing and universities can now charge up to £3,000 per year, no student has to pay this back until they are earning over £15,000 per year.

"I find that when you explain that someone who has been to university and is earning £18,000 per year has to pay back £5.19 per week, students are generally more positive about the fees.

"Students can now also apply for a non repayable grant dependant on income, which means they could get up to £2,700 a year that they do not have to pay back at all.'' Student loans are also still available which do not have to be paid back until earnings reach more than £15,000 per year. It is really important to get the message about finance across to young people as they are often given incorrect or no information at all from other sources.

In September the roadshow targeted Year 12 pupils at Bolton Sixth Form.

When it returns the information will be geared towards Year nine pupils and will include some information on further as well as higher education.

In some areas Matthew says that he finds many students think the only way to get to university is to do AS and A levels at sixth form or college. "Part of our job is to let students know about the different routes into university and that they can do courses such as a BTEC or Advanced GNVQ instead of A levels if they want.'' Another important point that the scheme aims to get across to students is that there are 50,000 courses across the UK at 500 different institutions, which means that people can do literally whatever they want wherever they want to do it.

Ninety five per cent of students agree that higher education is a worthwhile experience and on the financial side in some areas there are incentives to go to local institutions.

For example students who studied for their further education qualification at a partner college of the University of Bolton could be eligible for a £700 per year grant if they continued onto the university.

Many universities across the country are offering similar incentive schemes and so it is important for students to consider higher education carefully before making any decisions.

Matthew says: "The main thing is to get young people excited about higher education and to realise they can have a job doing something they love and that rewards them financially as well."

Given that recent research of pupils who attended the roadshow revealed a 64 per cent positive shift in attitudes towards higher education, it appears to be working.

For further information on higher education see www.aimhigher.ac.uk

For further information on finance see www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

For further information on Partner Colleges of the University of Bolton see www.bolton.ac.uk

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