Need life/career advice urgently

I'm 19. Long story short, during my 2nd year of A-levels my dad passed away and my mom was ill, which made things very hard for me and I entered a deep depression. I was always a good student however I came out of college with BDD grades, in maths, further maths and economics. This was in 2022. I then started working and I still am because I need to make money to provide for my family, thus making going to uni really hard since not only I had bad grades meaning I would have to move cities to find a uni, and i'd have to be working to support my parents at the same time. So I'm not quite sure what to do. Would an apprenticeship be recommended? if so, should I do an A level equivalent apprenticeship since my college grades were so bad? if I were to, would I even be able to? would colleges take me in as a 19yo who has already done A-levels? I'm not sure how any of this works, would really appreciate any help.

Reply 1

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

Original post by leonfsssss

Hi,
Thank you for being so honest and sharing this with us. I am sorry that you have had to go through all of this and that you have so much pressure on you.
An apprenticeship could be a good option as you will be able to gain a qualification/experience while earning and supporting your family. I would look into higher level apprenticeships first, as given your circumstances they may be able to lower the entry criteria (this could be dependant on your GCSE grades though). Some higher level apprenticeships are in partnership with Universities so this could allow you to get a degree too.
This website is good for finding apprenticeships and you should be able to access some support with your application through them too. https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
I hope it all goes well for you,
Evie (4th year medic at UoS)