Academic or vocational, pupils must pick own path

Published – Western Mail, Education Wales

This months exam results will have opened a sea of opportunity for thousands of young people in Wales. But whether they set out on a vocational or more traditional academic pathway could make all the difference. We asked ACT’s skills ambassador Dr Rhys Jones his opinion.

‘Television presenter and evolutionary biologist, many may assume I excelled in school, swiftly moving onto higher education and following the traditional academic pathways associated with those who strive for a PhD.’

‘However, in my case this couldn’t be further from the truth. I left school at 16 years of age with virtually no qualifications, thanks to crippling undiagnosed dyslexia, and didn’t return to further education until much later in life.’

‘I only wish that during this time the skills and training opportunities that are available today, via apprenticeships and traineeships schemes, had been accessible to a bright teen like me; one who was thoroughly dis-enchanted with academia, but lacked the conduits in which to channel my engery and passions.’