First up, I'm in the UK - in the last year of school. So I should be taking my GCSE's... But I wont be able to sit them due to family incidents and shiznit. Long story but it means my situation is this;

I'm coming out of the education system with nothing paper wise. I applied for the army and passed the BARB test with one of the highest scores the recruiter had seen, and was told that had it not been for my lack of qualifications - I would be able to go into whatever job I wanted.

I then decided to use the next 2 years wisely and grab a few qualifications so I can go in and be either an Ammo Tech or Operator Military Intelligence. So here I am - looking at the next 2 years and wondering how I can use them to my advantage.

Although, an engineering apprenticeship also looks like a good possible career path for the future...

My aims:
-To have between 3 to 5 GCSE's
-To have some technical skills and qualifications

So now I need to formulate a plan to achieve those goals. I have free education in most circumstances for the next 2 years - so I need to use it wisely.

Today I posted an application form for this course here [http://courses.nwkcollege.ac.uk/course_view.php?course_id=667&school_id=]; I chose it as a)I am running out of time to apply for colleges, b)It requires no prior qualifications and c)Its a topic that interests me.

Now I know the qualifications I get out of it are hardly special, but they are a start. It could also lead to a second year course getting Level 2 qualifications [http://courses.nwkcollege.ac.uk/course_view.php?course_id=517&school_id=].

Now that leaves me the 3 to 5 GCSE's I would like. English, Maths and a Science are must haves. Only problems are that most colleges require you to have failed before you attempt to re-take them.

I thought about going to an Adult Education Center and doing them - as I am studying Arabic that way. But doing 3 different courses and a full time college course is going to be quite a lot to cope with.

So this gives me 2 possibilities.
1) I had an idea about distance learning! I currently have all my work and exercises from a GCSE Geography course I purchased so if I could just find somewhere that would allow me to sit the exam.

But does anyone know of any distance learning places that offer GCSE's to 16-18 year olds for free?

2)Get a hold of the syllabus and teach myself, Knuckle down and plan it all out correctly. Use the internet, books, library to my advantage and get some serious study done.

Then when it comes to exam time, phone in to local schools and ask to sit the exams as an external pupil. [Which is possible as it is the standard way for home-educated pupils to sit exams I think...]

[b]This means I could get:

GCSE Geography - Year 08/09
Have the course notes, also got quite far.
GCSE Maths - Year 08/09
A must have, I studied for it, and have all the course notes...
GCSE English - Year 08/09
A must have, I also like to think my English skills aren't too bad. [Despite my totse/forum posts :P]
GCSE Science [Integrated science?] - Year 08/09
A must have, Was always top of the class in the sciences.

Of course, this relies on me being able to get a school to allow me to sit the exams with them.

This still leaves me with one GCSE subject spare though...

Any ideas/suggestions/advice guys? I'm tired and if this post comes off as "weird" its because I have a sudden rush of enthusiasm!

If anyone has been involved in anything similar, or has any knowledge about this - I'd love to hear it!

Go down to Connextons (judging from your link, this is your local one http://www.connexionskentandmedway.co.uk/pages/home/index.aspx) and talk to them. They will have experience with your issue or know who to talk to.

Good luck!

Go down to Connextons (judging from your link, this is your local one http://www.connexionskentandmedway.co.uk/pages/home/index.aspx) and talk to them. They will have experience with your issue or know who to talk to.

Good luck!

Thanks for that! Considering the fact I have a leaflet on my desk from them - I don't know why I hadn't considered it before!

It's definitely not too late. You're still very young. The fact that you can write coherently with good grammar and spelling tells me you'll find GCSEs a breeze to at least pass. Many, many people can barely string a sentence together and scratch a C.

Definitely do A-levels at a sixth form college - that will boost your employability beyond measure - and please, please at least think about uni. You'd then be in a position to become a commissioned officer.

Distance learning is very difficult as it requires loads of sustained effort, willpower etc. which can be hard to find, especially if your mates aren't studying.

In terms of other GCSEs, I'd recommend a humanity such as history. It's one of the most difficult but it's very useful because it teaches you essay skills which are essential at A-level.

Those are my thoughts - good luck mate...

Unless you play on being a doctor/lawyer/anything that needs a degree, I wouldn't bother.

I've got 10 A* - C GCSEs passes and they seem to mean jack all on the job market.