GCSE students in Monmouthshire are being encouraged to tweet apprenticeship provider ACT with questions about their next career steps after receiving their exam results on Thursday.
ACT will be at hand all throughout the day, via twitter profile @acttraining to offer advice on apprenticeships and training opportunities for students who don’t want to continue in mainstream education.
A recent report by the Welsh Government revealed that a fifth of all Welsh 16-24 year olds were classed as NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
ACT is determined to make a positive difference to people’s lives by providing learning opportunities from business administration to construction courses.
Andrew Cooksley, managing director of ACT Training, said: “The results received on Thursday can be life changing for young people, but our staff at ACT are on hand to offer support and guidance through social media.
“The Prince’s Trust has revealed that nearly 40 per cent of people in Wales believe that those who fail their exams will struggle to find a job in the future and more than a quarter admit they will always feel inferior to those who did better at school.
“These figures are worrying as there are so many opportunities available to those who don’t want to stay in mainstream education. That’s why we’re urging GCSE pupils to go online and ask us any questions they have so we can support them with their choices, there are endless opportunities available to young people of all abilities.”
In the run up to results day, ACT also launched the #howmanydidyouget twitter campaign asking people all over the country to reveal the number of GCSEs they had at school.
The results have been interesting, with rugby legends Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Davies having two, Andy Moore having eight and ‘The Apprentice’ star Alex Mills having five, proving that exam results don’t restrict further education and training opportunities.
Since setting up in 1988, ACT has become Wales’ largest provider of training and apprenticeships. With five training centres across Wales, it offers work-based training to over 8000 people every year and has been named in the Sunday Times’ Best 100 places to work in 2012.
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