How do parents & carers feel about post-16 and post-18 options? Insights from South Midlands research

In 2025, Amazing Apprenticeships were commissioned by South Midlands Career Hub to conduct a piece of research with parents and carers of secondary school-aged children to explore perceptions around post-16 and post-18 options.

The aim was to better understand confidence, interest and awareness levels of post-16 and post-18 options amongst parents & carers, and to learn more about the barriers that might be faced when supporting their child with their next step.

The survey generated 5,978 responses from across 53 schools in the South Midlands, and some of the key findings from the research report included:

• Confidence gap: While 53% of parents/carers would encourage their child to consider an apprenticeship, only 12% of parent/carers felt confident that they knew all the required information.
• How to access support: 68% of parent/carers did not feel confident about how they could ask for support from their child’s school regarding post-16/post-18 options.
• Local opportunities: 90% of parents/carers felt that they either did not have access to or needed more information on local career and employment opportunities.

Katie Bright, Customer Insights Manager at Amazing Apprenticeships, adds,

“The research project is an important tool for both the careers hub and individual schools, with bespoke reports provided to each participating school, benchmarking parent/carer awareness and understanding against regional findings.

The feedback gathered from school communities can help tailor school’s individual careers programmes to better support students and their families and strengthen parental engagement as emphasised across the updated Gatsby Benchmarks.”

To read the report in full, please click here.