Resources

The guide we wish we had on day one

Apprenticeships, education pathways and immigration terms explained in simple language, for anyone who has recently arrived in the UK and is still figuring out the system.

Apprenticeships guide

Everything we wish someone had told us about apprenticeships when we first arrived.

What is an apprenticeship?

A real job with training built in. You earn a salary, work towards a recognised qualification, and pay no tuition fees. Levels run from Level 2 up to Level 7, which is equivalent to a masters degree.

How to apply

Most employers recruit through their own careers pages and the government Find an Apprenticeship service. Applications usually involve online tests, video interviews and assessment centres. Start early, deadlines for big schemes often close months before the start date.

Visa considerations

Your visa status affects which schemes you can access, and many recruiters do not understand the rules themselves. Ask us in the community before ruling yourself out. Members have navigated this and can point you to employers who sponsor or accept your status.

Education pathways

Year 12 or Year 13 and not sure what post-sixth form is going to look like? Start here.

University

A degree route (typically 3 years) suited to careers that require formal qualifications, or if you want time to explore a subject in depth before deciding on a career. Applications go through UCAS, and funding through Student Finance, but for recent immigrants, eligibility and fee status (home vs international) needs checking early, since it can change what is actually affordable.

Apprenticeship

A real job where you earn a wage while training towards a recognised qualification, usually one day a week off the job. They run from Level 2 (GCSE-equivalent) up to Level 6/7 (degree-equivalent), so you can go straight into one from school or use one later to top up other qualifications. No tuition fees, and you are an employee from day one.

Level 4 and 5 college routes (HNCs, HNDs)

College-based vocational qualifications that sit alongside A-levels and university. An HNC (Level 4) and HND (Level 5) are practical, skills-based routes that can lead straight into work or top up into the second or third year of a full degree later. Useful if you want to keep options open without committing to a full 3-year course upfront.

Gap year

Time out between school or college and your next step, used deliberately rather than as falling behind. For some recent immigrants a gap year is not optional; visa restrictions or not yet qualifying for home fee status can genuinely rule out starting university straight away. Framing it as a valid pathway, for retakes, work experience, volunteering or waiting on a status decision, matters.

Entry-level jobs

Going straight into paid work without a formal training programme attached. Right to work still needs checking against your visa conditions first, since not every visa allows full-time or unrestricted work.

Traineeship

An education and training programme with a work placement, designed to get 16 to 24 year-olds ready for an apprenticeship or job when they do not yet have the skills or experience employers are asking for. It runs from 6 weeks up to a year (most last under 6 months) and combines a placement with employability, English and maths support. It is unpaid, though you may get expenses like travel or meals covered.

Immigration Basics

The immigration terms that come up most often, in plain language. Always confirm the detail on the official GOV.UK pages, because the rules change.

Student visa

The main route for studying at a licensed UK institution. It sets conditions on how many hours you can work during term time and affects your access to home fee status and student finance, so check your specific conditions early.

Child dependant

A dependant is someone included on a family member's visa rather than holding their own separate immigration status, most commonly a child added to a parent's application. Being a dependant can affect your right to work, study, and your own path to ILR.

ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain)

ILR removes time limits and most conditions from your stay in the UK, and is the step before applying for British citizenship. Most routes need years of continuous lawful residence first, but the exact requirement depends on which visa route you are on.

Leave to remain

The official term for permission to stay in the UK, always attached to conditions (work, study, public funds) that are recorded on your eVisa or UKVI account. Breaching those conditions, even by accident, can affect future applications.

No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)

A condition on most visas (short of settled status or citizenship) meaning you cannot claim most benefits or housing support. Worth knowing about before you need it, especially around job loss or an emergency.

Home fee status vs international fee status

Whether you pay UK home tuition rates or much higher overseas rates, decided separately from your immigration status. Recent arrivals are sometimes wrongly assumed to be overseas fee payers, so check with each university.

eVisa

The UK digital immigration record, which has replaced physical BRP cards. Your visa conditions and expiry live in your UKVI account, not in anything printed or told to you informally.

Asylum seeker vs refugee

An asylum seeker has applied for protection and is waiting for a decision, generally without the right to work and with no recourse to public funds. A refugee is someone whose claim has been accepted, with leave to remain, the right to work, and access to student finance and mainstream benefits.

Visa extension (as a child dependant)

If you are on a visa as a dependant, your status is tied to your parent's. When your parents switch to a new visa route or sponsor, you will usually need to apply to extend or switch your own visa as their dependant before your current one expires, or risk overstaying through no fault of your own.

Post 18 Pathways: A Practical Guide

Our event pack covering apprenticeships, university, funding support and alternative routes for young black immigrants in the UK. Ask for it in the community.

Useful links

Reference points

Key organisations providing guidance on education, careers and immigration.

Questions the guides cannot answer?

The community can. Ask anything, someone has usually been through exactly what you are facing.

Join the Community More ways to get involved