So many young people come out of school feeling completely lost

This column was written collaboratively by the ‘Moving Forward’ project, designed to support those leaving school to take positive steps into further education, apprenticeships or work. In this column, a group of young people draw on their shared experiences to describe the situation facing many young people who are thinking about leaving - or have recently left - school.

The summer holidays are coming to an end, with young people across Scotland getting ready to go back to school. But for those of us who have recently left, and are unsure what to do next, it could be another reason to feel anxious.

I never enjoyed secondary school. The pandemic started when I was in P7, so I felt like I went straight into S1 without a proper transition. It was a big change, but I didn’t feel like I had enough support.

It became clear that school wasn’t the place for me but I was worried that the other options weren’t much better. I knew lots of people were struggling to find a job – and I didn’t even know where to start looking.

It was important that I did something – I knew when I left school my parents wouldn’t receive child benefits anymore, and that was going to put a lot of financial pressure on them. My anxiety just got worse the closer I got to the end of school. I started to feel really stressed, overthinking everything. And when you overthink things, it just makes you feel worse. It’s a vicious cycle.

That’s why, when I was referred to the ‘Moving Forward’ service I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think something like that would exist and couldn’t see how they would be able to help me. I felt so alone – I genuinely felt like I was the only person feeling this stuck.

It turns out that I wasn’t. So many young people come out of school feeling completely lost. It’s a really vulnerable stage of life, and if people aren’t there to help you, you’re at risk of feeling lost, because you don’t know what the alternatives are.

But this group has been a really good way to get me ‘oot the hoose’. After lots of years where I felt really isolated, it’s been a place where I could learn more about how to interact with others. I actually feel like I can interact with people more easily now.

But mostly – it’s given me the confidence to take some next steps. I now know the kind of transferrable skills I have. I know where to look for jobs and what to do when I find one I want. I’m genuinely excited for the future now – which I wasn’t before. I can’t wait to support myself, be more independent and not rely on my family.

My advice to the people who are stressed about leaving school is to see if there is something similar near you. Support does exist and knowing I could go to Cyrenians and someone would actually listen to what I have to say, helped me a lot.

This column was written collaboratively by the ‘Moving Forward’ project, designed to support those leaving school to take positive steps into further education, apprenticeships or work. In this column, a group of young people draw on their shared experiences to describe the situation facing many young people who are thinking about leaving - or have recently left - school.