Explore Your Choices After Year 11
Not sure what to do next? This section is full of information and advice about where to get support. If you are in year 12 or 13, and not in employment, education or training, you can get extra help from an adviser see here; Help and Support – Next Steps or contact us on 01225 716890 or email workwilts@wiltshire.gov.uk
School leaving age
Choosing your next step
After finishing Year 11, it’s important to choose the path that feels right for your interests, needs, and future. There are three main options available to you:
Your Options
- Stay in full‑time education at a school sixth form or college
- Start an apprenticeship and earn while you learn
- Work or volunteer for 20+ hours a week while also doing part‑time education or training
How to Decide What’s Right for You
- Think about what suits you best
Consider how you like to learn, the subjects you enjoy, and the kind of environment you want to be in. - Check what your chosen career requires
There is more information on our Help and Support page under ‘careers advice’. Some careers need qualifications from sixth form or college, while others are open through apprenticeships. - Explore local options
Visit the websites of colleges and sixth forms near you. A list of local colleges and sixth forms can be found on our Education and opportunity page here. - Attend open days or open evenings
These are a great way to meet staff, see the facilities, and get a feel for the place. Dates will be on their websites. - Think about travel
Look at how you will get to your chosen place and whether you can get financial help with travel costs: Applying for transport – Wiltshire Council
Careers advice
If you are still at school or college you can ask to see a careers adviser. They will help you explore your interests and career ideas.
If you are not at school or college you can get advice from the National Careers Service for free.
Here are some other websites to help you explore your career options.
- Plan your future work or study with CareerPilot
- Bitesize Careers explains the world of work, with advice from people who have found the right path for them.
- See real-life career videos and ideas for your future at icould.com.
- Youth Employment UK has lots of information including cv and job-hunting advice and free skills training
Use the Careerometer below to compare different careers. Select different jobs on each card to compare pay, workforce changes and descriptions.
How much could you earn?
Careerometer can be used to explore and compare different jobs.
Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in, and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare.
By selecting ‘display the UK average’ you can see what the average pay and hours are in the UK – you can then compare this to the jobs you are interested in.
Tracking participation for 16-18 years old
Every local authority has a legal duty to report on the “destinations” of all young people (what young people are doing) for 2 academic years after they leave statutory education at the end of year 11. This could be studying, working or not currently engaging in anything. We do this by working with schools, post 16 providers, other local authorities and other teams at Wiltshire Council. If we do not know what you are doing, we may contact you to find out. This will be by text, telephone, email, letter or door knocking visits.
We also contact schools to check that all year 11’s and year 12’s have something to go on to the following year. We will then follow-up any young people that don’t have anything in place to offer support. This is called the September Guarantee – i.e. the guarantee of a place for September.
Update your details
You can tell us your destination by completing this form. It may help us to support you better Update us with your details.
You can also contact us on 01225 716890 or email workwilts@wiltshire.gov.uk
Support service
If you are not in Education, Employment or Training and aged 16-17 extra support is available via our Help and Support from Next Steps page.