Wishing you all the best with exams
Here at oxme, we would like to wish all the best to everyone sitting exams.
Remember to rest and take extra care of your wellbeing.
After GCSE's some young people move on from their school and go to a Further Education college. This can happen for a variety of reasons:
At Further Education colleges young people study alongside adults.
Crucial: Although you are studying alongside adults, you can still find things like a School Health Nurse, and other kinds of wellbeing support.
Managing your time and taking responsibility is important in college. Lots of study is independent and you get to create your own projects.
Rules are still important to keep everyone safe. But the environment is more adult. So, you might talk to your lecturers by their first name, or wear your own clothes instead of a uniform.
Colleges may also have subjects schools don't offer. These are often related to jobs you might go on to do, after you leave college.
Take action: Have a look courses and more from some of our nearby colleges - Abingdon & Witney College, Activate Learning, Buckinghamshire College Group, New College Swindon and BCA.
College is an opportunity to meet many different people from different places, get experience of independent travel and different environments, and build your skills.
The way you learn in college is different to how you learn in school. This short video explains the Activate College group philosophy of learning:
Some young people worry about going to college. But you can gain good qualifications in all sorts of different settings. What matters is what works for you.
It's natural and normal to be worried when you change school or college.
Common worries include:
You need to stay in learning until you are 18. But this doesn't mean you can't start work. You can usually work part time alongside college. But it's important to not let this get in the way of your studies.
Crucial: Staying in learning till age 18 is important, as you usually have to pay for post-18 study.
Did you know that you can also study for degrees at your Further Education College? So you might end up staying at college to do your degree.
When you're going through changes, it helps if you know where you can go for extra help! There's plenty available:
If you are having difficulties or feel stressed you can talk to your school health nurse, student support, or wellbeing support in your place of learning
This is what one person who changed from school to college experienced:
“I was 16 when I left school and decided to go to another sixth form for a change. I chose to study sociology, philosophy and ethics and world development. But what did I want to go into in the future? Business. I decided to overcome the pressure of studying 3 A levels and choose what I thought was best for me. This led to me joining Abingdon & Witney College to study Level 3 Business Management, which is equivalent to 3 A levels, except with different way of learning. I have now been accepted to all 5 of my university choices to study International Business. I am looking forward to starting in September.” Yusra, 19