Any Mechanical Engineers on here

jimmy_81

Lots of great responses already to this thread :T

Just to add a couple of additional points...

Completely agree that apprenticeships and degree are both equally valid routes into a profession. Your son should get as much information as possible about both options, so he can choose what will work best for him.

That being said... Having a good engineering degree opens up so many other potential job opportunities for the future. If he's utterly 100% set on mechanical that's great - and a Mech Eng degree would absolutely enable that, but would ALSO allow him to work in finance, different engineering disciplines, teaching, the list goes on. It's a huge plus point for every future step of his career.

Should he go down the degree path, I would also agree with the previous poster who suggested a year in industry "sandwich" course. This provides invaluable work experience that really helps get a good job following graduation. I'd also suggest looking into undergraduate masters degrees - if he has ambitions to become a Chartered Engineer, then this helps speed up the process considerably.

One other point I've not seen anyone else mention - in his GCSEs and A-levels, if he follows that path, then in my view it's well worth studying one topic NOT maths/science related. Engineering employers are looking for people with well rounded skills - studying English helps with communication; studying a language helps work globally; studying geography helps get a grasp of logistics... You get the idea

Above all though as everyone's said, encourage him to work hard and get great GCSEs, and then all the options are open - best of luck to him!

sharp910sh

If he wants big money tell him to work in oil and gas.