Trafford Connexions can offer careers information; advice and guidance to young people aged 13-19 (or up to 25 if young people have learning difficulties or disabilities) in Trafford. Furthermore we can support young people with issues such as housing, benefits, relationships and health & wellbeing.

Connexions advice in schools and colleges

There is now a duty on schools to secure independent careers guidance for all year 8-13 pupils. In order to find out if Trafford Connexions deliver the Careers Service in your son/daughters school or college please contact us on 0161 911 8600 or discuss this with the school directly.

Connexions advice on leaving school or college

If your son/daughter wants support once they leave school or college then they can contact us on the below:

Telephone: 0161 911 8600

Facebook: facebook.com/connexions.trafford

Twitter @ConnexionsTraff

Tracking

Tracking is a key part of the Council’s ability to improve outcomes for young people, because councils need to know which young people have disengaged from the education and training system in order to offer them support to help them re-engage. We also need to know what has happened to young people whose destination is unknown to help decide whether further support is needed or not. Therefore Trafford Connexions will occasionally be in contact to establish the current destination of your son/daughter.

Raising the Participation Age (RPA) – what does it mean for your child?

RPA came about from government legislation, introduced in 2013 to encourage young people to stay in ‘education and training’ until they are 18.

It’s not quite the same as the school leaving age as it doesn’t mean young people have to stay on at school. They will have a choice of what they can do.

Here are the options that are defined as suitable ‘education and training’:

  • One option is to study full-time at school, college or with a training provider.  All schools and colleges have open evenings or events for future students. These can give you and your son/daughter a chance to see what it is really like and talk to tutors and teachers, so it is worth going along. Your  Connexions Adviser can give you a list of all these dates.
  • The second option is an apprenticeship or traineeship. Numbers of apprenticeships are increasing all the time and the government is committed to  increasing the number of apprenticeships to 3 million by 2020. For more information on this you can look on the National Apprenticeship Service Website
  • The third option is full-time employment or volunteering (full-time is counted as more than 20 hours a week) but it must be combined with part-time study or training. Young people can’t just go and get a job. It must be a job with training or the young person is not seen as fully participating.

A Guide to qualifications

There are a range of qualifications that your son/daughter may be studying or want to go on and study. In order to find out more about these you can contact us to discuss further or you can go on the What Qualifications Mean website.

GCSEs

New GCSEs in English language, English literature and maths will be taught in schools in England from September 2015, with the first results issued in August 2017.

Further subjects will see new GCSEs introduced over the following two years.

For further information on these changes see the Get the Facts GCSE Reform website

AS / A Levels

New AS and A levels will be taught in schools in England from September 2015. The first results for the new AS levels will be in 2016, and for the A levels in 2017. Further subjects will be introduced over the following two years.

For further information on these changes see the Get the Facts AS and A Levels Reform Website.

Vocational

Vocational courses have a mix of practical and academic content and are generally designed for students who wish to go directly into employment or go on to further training or a university course of a related area. Students generally study one vocational course only.

T Levels

T Levels offer a mixture of classroom learning and 'on the job' experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approx 45 days).

Apprenticeships

What’s an apprenticeship? It’s a real job, with real training, meaning your son/daughter can earn while they learn and gain a nationally recognised qualification. As a parent you want your child to get the best possible start in their career. There are many options available to young people after they leave school, and information on and the benefits of apprenticeships is outlined in the National Apprenticeship Guide.

Child Employment Licence

Children must be at least 13 years of age before they are allowed to begin work, and will require a licence until the last Friday in June of the academic year in which they become 16 years of age.

There are restrictions on the type of work that children of school age may undertake, and a licence will only be issued if the child is working in an area of employment which is not prohibited.

Hours of work

13 and 14 year olds

15 and 16 year olds

On any day

Between 7am and 7pm

Between 7am and 7pm

School days

Maximum of 2 hours

Maximum of 2 hours

Saturdays

Maximum of 5 hours

Maximum of 8 hours

Sundays

Maximum of 2 hours

Maximum of 2 hours

Term time

Maximum of 12 hours a week

Maximum of 12 hours a week

School   holidays

Maximum of 25 hours a week, 5 hours a day

Maximum of 35 hours a week, 8 hours a day

A child may not work for more than 4 hours in any day without a rest break of one hour.

Completion of a Child employment application form is the responsibility of the Employer and the Parent / Carer.  Failure to ensure that a child who is working part time has an Employment Licence may result in prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. You can find the application form and further information on the Trafford Directory.

Useful websites

For information on all other support that you or your son/daughter can receive, visit the Trafford Directory.