CEG is provided for every young person who requires it, who is in full-time education or in full or part-time vocational education. Further education students, unless they are studying for a higher education qualification, can also get information, advice and guidance from their college or the local Connexions Service. Higher education students, including those studying at a FE college, should be able to get help from the university careers service.

The teaching staff in schools and FE colleges and the careers advisers from the local Connexions Service provide CEG. At school, the CEG programme starts in Year 9 and continues until you leave. People outside school are often invited to give talks or demonstations to a group or class. You may go on visits to employers and you should have at least one week of work experience, often in Year 10. If you go on to do a GNVQ course you may get some more work experience.

Careers Service advisers offer advice and guidance which is impartial, objective and based on your personal needs and interests. They have extensive information on local further education courses, higher education options, the full range of training opportunities available and the demands and availability of jobs in your locality. They will also be able to advise on the financial support available to young people while they are in education or training, and about state benefits.

Employers now require an increasingly broad range of skills from young people entering the jobs market. Universities are also now looking for evidence of breadth of study alongside depth. The Government would like to see young people take a wider range of subjects at A level than the traditional two or three, or to study A levels alongside key skills or a vocational A level.

Secondary schools in Hounslow have sixth forms. Here you will have a greater degree of independence than in Year 11 but still within a structured school environment. In a sixth form you can study a variety of courses: A and AS levels in traditional and new subjects; and national qualifications at Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced levels which are a next step towards a job, training or further education.

For advice, contact your own school's careers teacher, Head of Sixth Form or Connexions personal adviser. Your school's careers or Connexions library should have information about alternative sixth forms, or you can contact a different school directly to find out about open evenings or other chances to visit. A town centre Connexions 'one stop shop' (or former careers centres) will also have information about other sixth forms and colleges.

There are six Key Skills and they are divided into two groups:
• The main Key Skills areas are: Application of Number, Communication, and Information Technology. These are assesed by the coursework you complete over the length of the course, or by the portfolio of work you have at the end of the course.
• The Wider Key Skills are Problem Solving, Working With Others, and Improving Learning & Performance. These are assessed by coursework and/or a portfolio, but you also have to pass an exam as well.

Key Skills can be made to fit in with other qualifications, so you can do them alongside a 12-week NVQ or while you're taking AS exams or A2/A Levels.

If you want to learn about subject areas instead of occupational areas then you could study for academic qualifications such as A or AS Levels. Based in the sixth form or at a college of further education, these qualifications provide you with an in-depth level of study across a range of subject areas.

Employers now require an increasingly broad range of skills from young people entering the jobs market. Universities are also now looking for evidence of breadth of study alongside depth. The Government would like to see young people take a wider range of subjects at A level than the traditional two or three, or to study A levels alongside key skills or a vocational A level.

Advanced level qualifications include (DfES)
Advanced Subsidiary (AS) qualifications, which represent the first half of the full A level and are worth 50% of the marks. They are designed to encourage take-up of more subjects especially in the first year of post-16 study;
A level specifications, normally made up of six units. They offer candidates the choice of linear (end of course) or modular (staged) assessment.
A new requirement - for a significant element of "synoptic" A level assessment, which tests understanding of the specification as a whole, whichever assessment option is chosen;
"Advanced Extension Awards" (AEAs) or world class tests, designed to stretch the most able students. They replace and are more accessible than the old "special papers" The AEAs are available for first examination in 2002, initially in the main 17 A level subjects;
A three-unit Vocational qualification is available in a few subjects. It is equivalent in size to the GCE AS level. The new six-unit and a twelve-unit (double award) Vocational A levels are equivalent in size and demand to a single GCE A level and two GCE A levels respectively. All are graded A to E like the GCE qualifications for the first time encouraging parity of esteem; and
Key Skills qualifications, designed to encourage all young people to develop the essential business skills of communication, application of number and IT, drawing on evidence from their programme of study.

Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and Advanced Level (BBC)
A Levels are the final set of exams that may be taken at secondary school (if the school has a Sixth Form), or at college. They are the traditional entry requirements to university.

A-Z of A-levels (Independent Education)
Our series designed to help you to pick the right course, with fresh additions weekly.