The decision gets made at fifteen, usually on somebody else's advice, and it is treated as final. It is less final than people think — but it is easier to choose well than to change later.
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See what changes for youOpens engineering, medicine, research and most technical work. The widest door and the heaviest workload — and taking it only because it 'keeps options open' is why so many students switch in the first year.
Opens accountancy, finance, banking, company work and running your own business. Treated by many families as the safe second choice; it is not a second choice.
Opens law, media, teaching, civil services, design and psychology. It carries a reputation it stopped deserving twenty years ago.
The shortest route to earning, and the one most families are never told about. It does not close off a degree later — plenty of people do both, in that order.
What does this person do all day — not what are they called? A job title tells you nothing about whether you will enjoy the work.
Who do I know doing it, and can I ask them? One honest half hour beats a month of reading.
If I am wrong, what does it cost to change? Some choices cost a year. Some cost nothing. Knowing which is which is the whole decision.
Only if the student wants it. A student who does not is the one who drops a year, and a dropped year costs more than any stream ever did.
Often yes, at a cost — usually a year, sometimes an entrance exam. Going from science to commerce or arts is easier than the other way round.
Marks decide which colleges are open. They tell you nothing about what the work is like, and that is the part people regret.
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