Number on zero hour contracts doubles in a year

wotsthat

N1AK wrote: »

One issue with our education system is that your maturity/priorities at 14-16 years old can massively limit your ability to take advantage of it.

I definitely wasn't mature enough at that age. Although I got good GCSEs I scrapped through A-Levels and the first couple of years of University. I only 'got it' in my final year and even with a genuinely immense amount of time and effort only managed to pull my overall degree up to a 2.2; fortunately that was enough in the vibrant job market of 2005 and I've done fine since.

If someone is too lazy, or doesn't see the point, at GCSE age then it is self-defeating as a nation to write them off at that point. People's ethics, attitudes towards study etc can change incredibly between 15 and 20 so it makes little sense not to help them help themselves.

I agree completely but there's a correlation between qualifications at age 16 and future earnings so it's vital that people 'get it' as early as possible. Up to age 19 there's a lot of support for those who want to improve their qualifications but this diminishes into adulthood.

If someone hasn't seen the light by age 20 or so the odds start to turn against them. Doesn't mean they can't go on and make a good living but it starts to become less likely.

N1AK

wotsthat wrote: »

I agree completely but there's a correlation between qualifications at age 16 and future earnings so it's vital that people 'get it' as early as possible. Up to age 19 there's a lot of support for those who want to improve their qualifications but this diminishes into adulthood.

Definitely. Although I think that in practice their isn't an awful lot that can be done to force people to mature, or not rebel. I'd argue the future earnings of many who did poorly at GCSE would be considerably better if their were schemes in place to make it easier for them to return to education full/part-time.

An extreme example might even be my mum :rotfl: who worked as a cleaner, classroom assistant etc for most of her working life but then in her late 40s got a social work degree. She now earns around double, pays much more tax etc. She won't be the only person who didn't do well academically at school age but who could contribute far more to society given the chance.