Are you really expected to know what career you want by 15 years old?

Yes, you are expected to know and I agree it's insane. Welcome to capitalism.

Yes, you are expected to know and I agree it's insane. Welcome to capitalism.

I'm 20, currently studying Chemistry. Still not entirely sure if I want to go into research or something else.
I have to actually make that decision pretty soon.

Pro tip. At your age, just decide If you want to go into the Arts and humanities or STEM. Be as vague as you want to be, just decide between those to areas and you can choose your A levels.

College shouldn't just be a stepping stone in education for young people though. At my university we have a lady who is in her mid 50's on my course and she brings so much to the classroom that I believe it will be beneficial for more mature students to attend a college if they want a career change. Not just for the students there but for the person themselves.

I disagree, you can change careers. It won't be easy but it is definitely doable as long as you have transferrable skills

Yes, welcome to capitalism, the awful system where you have a choice in what you want to do in life.

Back in good old communism the lottery system will determine your future at the age of 10, where families will be delighted to know if their child has won the raffle to be trained to become a doctor or whether they're being sent down to the coal mines with the rest of the family. Those were the good times of economic preplanning, rather than the cluster**** of uncertainty we have today.

*speaking from the background of the communist eastern bloc

**note: it's always funny how those who advocate against capitalism and (presumably) for communism, envisage themselves to be party members destined for a life of nomenklatura/politics and public policy, as they are too important to be sent down to the mines or the local kolkhoz.

There is no expectation to know by the time you are 15.

That's just not true. Anyone can choose to take additional GCSEs if they did choose a different path at a later stage. Same with retaking other subjects and courses.

In the vast majority of cases, even your degree doesn't impact your career route, so thinking your GCSEs do is crazy.

Then your school was run by idiots.

Just because someone else has expectations (e.g. school or parent) doesn't mean that in reality you are expected to know what you will do career wise.

There is a difference between following your interests and strengths by choosing subjects and courses, and deciding on a future career. Its estimated the average person will have 7 different careers in their lifetime. Add in that the job market has changed significantly, and someone who is 15 now and deciding on a career path may find their job doesn't exist in another 15 years time. Trying to force a 15 year old into making any form of career decision is ridiculously stupid.

Now I'm somewhat almost there - I am going to study Engineering/Maths at Kings College Cambridge in 2020 and I'd have known this for 7 years.

I thought I had it down at 15. And at 17. And at 21. And at 24. It wasn't until I was 25 that I realized I was flogging a dead horse and shifted into something different.

You always wanted to be the sales manager for a knacker's yard?

I know some people have an idea what they want by say 15/16 years old but just something I remember from my time at school in year 11 we were made to see a career's advisor who came into school and it was like we were expected to know what we wanted to do career wise by then. I mean my argument is, should we know what we want to do by 15 because years later I still didn't know what I wanted, all I wanted to do was travel etc

Also is there too much pressure put on us to decide what we want to do?

Those who have their career plans sorted by age 15, well, they'll come across their fair share of support and cynicism.
Those without a career plan, they'll be suggested one based on their best performing subject in school. If they don't have a subject they're good at, they can expect little to no support from teachers and peers.