Session 4: Preparing for life after school

Introduction

In the following video Bobby introduces the crucially important decisions you will need to address as you approach the end of your time in secondary education.

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Transcript

BOBBY SEAGULL:

You've now reached a key point in your life where you decide what you want to do when you leave school. You could carry on in full time education at a college or university or go into an apprenticeship. You could move into a job and start a career, perhaps by first doing an internship.

An internship is usually a short-term period of unpaid work, although your employer may cover at least part of your travelling expenses. Doing an internship helps make your CV attractive to prospective employers. Many interns also find that they end up being hired on a normal working contract by the employer.

Or of course, you could take a break and have a gap year before deciding on your next step. Whatever you choose to do will have financial consequences for you, especially as leaving school is normally when wider responsibilities for financial management are passed on to you from your parents or guardians, and if you decide to go onto further or higher education, it's very likely that you'll be applying for student loans to cover tuition fees and your living costs, so understanding how student finance works is essential for making sure you stay in control of your finances as you enjoy your time and studies at university or college.

One major consequence, whatever you do, is that your personal budget becomes more complex with different sources of income and increased and more varied spending. This makes managing your budget even more important, so you'll explore how you can do this effectively.

But don't worry, there's an online app to help you run a budget for when you leave home. What's more, it can be adjusted to reflect whether you're a student or in a job or even self-employed. There's a lot to learn in this session. Enjoy.

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Your focus in this session is reaching that key point in your life where you decide what you want to do when your schooldays are over. Whatever choice you make, it will have financial consequences for you – especially as this is normally when wider responsibilities for financial management are passed from your parents to you.

Some of the alternatives include:

• taking a break – the so-called ‘gap year’ before starting one of the other alternatives (we’ll use ‘gap year’ even if it’s less or more than 12 months)
• going into an apprenticeship
• moving into a job and starting a career – perhaps by doing an internship (usually a short-term period of unpaid work – although employers might cover part of your travel costs)
• continuing full-time education at a college or university.

The session ends with a longer quiz of 15 questions that cover not only this session but also Sessions 1, 2 and 3. It marks your completion of the first half of the course and counts towards your badge.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

• understand the choices available to you when you finish secondary education
• understand how you can finance further and higher education studies
• take advantage of the deals and discounts that are available for young adults
• build a more detailed budget that you can use when living away from the family home
• understand the budgetary pressures that can arise when you live away from home, and how to manage these.