Post-18 planning in 2025 is changing, not least as a result of higher education financial concerns, increases in tuition fees, and demand for apprenticeships. Director of Future Pathways at Loughborough Grammar School, Leicestershire, Sarra Jenkins, considers some of the challenges ahead and how to try and best navigate the evolving landscape for students.
Advising students on their post-18 options can sometimes fall between a rock and a hard place. Traditionally, this may have been seen as “doing UCAS”: guiding students in picking a university and course, helping them complete the form and then awaiting the responses. This alone is a superficial portrait of a complex process, however. When you then add in developing avenues such as apprenticeships, and then throw in a more nuanced view of the higher education landscape, it becomes clear that post-18 guidance is far more than just “doing UCAS”…