Struggling with career options

Hi, I'm a student currently studying for GCSE's, though I'm not entirely worried about it. Whats more worrying is the path I want to take down in life. I'm at the age where I should really start thinking about what I want to do in life and that's really stressing me out. I do have a few things that I would like to do but they constantly change. I've done plenty of research on these careers but I'm still unsure. I've also taken advice from teachers and the internet but it's just utter trash. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do?

it's hard to say when you didn't explain what your options are. You won't truly know what you like until you start working, so just choose something and you can always change career paths if you end up hating it. If you are really stuck between options maybe look at things like salary and lifestyle. Choose the one that pays the most, the easiest one, the most respected one. Whatever is most important to you. Another option is to just do general A-Levels in subjects you like, most uni courses apart from maybe stem or the arts are pretty accepting of most subjects. A-Levels open up so many doors, you can do apprenticeships with them as well. That will also give you two more years to decide. You could also take time out of education to try different jobs. Good Luck

Personally, I'd suggest trying not to worry too much about what you want to do in the future, and focus on what you can do in the present - study hard for the GCSEs that interest you - if you are unsure of what you want to do as a job, the only next step you need to think about is a-levels (if you choose to do them). Choose A-levels that you find interesting, rather than ones you think you are easy or ones that your friends are doing, because in the end they will end up being the ones that motivate you the most. Once you're nearing the end of a-levels you can decide what you want to do next based on your experience of the a-levels and the extra knowledge you'll have gained over the time. It's perfectly normal and acceptable not to have a clear direction in mind while doing GCSEs or a-levels, and just to relax and see where life takes you. Try doing projects - in teams and on your own - that focus on topics and skills you are interested in, but also make sure to dive in the deep end occasionally on topics that you have never heard of or have never done before (such as going to a workshop on, say, basket making). The worst that can happen is you don't like it, which is actually really great because it means you find out more about what you do and don't like while having an experience of how to work in groups and manage projects.
And most of all, don't forget to relax enjoy where life takes you.
Remember the famous quote: people are often so worried about the future that they forget to enjoy the present, the result being that they do not live in the future nor the present - they live as though they are never going to die, and then die having never really lived.
Remember that you can always change if you find you want to try something different, so don't be afraid to try new things.
Whatever route you find yourself travelling, I wish you the best of luck.
- IceWolf, y12 student.

Try to make the most of the free time you get away from school and during the holidays to try to find something that you like. Try to get involved with extra-curricular activies at school (STEM club or debate club for example), take advantage of some of the opportunities offered to GCSE/year 12 students during the summer holidays (summer schools for example), and do not choose any old place for your year 12 work experience because you should try to find somewhere that aligns with at least one of your interests.

You shouldn't know what you want to do during your GCSEs, but you should work on finding a subject that you enjoy and that has relatively good employment prospects. For instance, you might love art history but doing a degree in that is more likely to land you in a customer service/marketing role than a career engaged in the history of art. If you're good at maths too, you might want to read around what you're learning in class (applications of differentiation, how is mechanics used in real life, applications of trigonometry) and that might get you more interested in maths, physics or architecture which don't have too bad career prospects.