By community correspondent Matthew Tijou Currently, across the Sutton borough, 16 year olds are living the consequences of the decisions they have had to make over the past few months. After five years of routinely flocking from lesson to lesson, day after day, suddenly post-GCSE students are thrown in the deep end, having to make adult choices that will shape their future. The extended summer break, a reward for the end of compulsory schooling, is tainted by the underlying panic of approaching results day. Having opened the brown envelope enclosing their future, the students now have to make further decisions. These decisions have a larger impact than previous ones and range from ‘what do I want to do as a career’ to ‘what do I wear today’- for gone are the days of school uniform, where they were told what to do, and which choices they should make. The new schooling year has begun and all of a sudden, the transition from dependent to independent has been made for the fresh Year 12 students- willingly, or unwillingly- one of the few choices they can’t make themselves.

Most secondary schools in Sutton accommodate students into their sixth forms, providing they get the required GCSE grades. For those who don’t, it may be the case that there is a lack of choice for them, but still adult decisions have to be made as to which path to take instead of their ideal.

These new sixth form or college students are forced to embrace a new attitude to the provision of their education, learning in a harsher environment where the reality that the work is beneficial to only them is evident. There is now a more serious atmosphere where they are treated as adults for the first time.

There are also those who make the choice that the academic route is not for them so do not continue with their education and go straight into work instead. In the current economic climate, competition for any job is steep, so it is especially difficult for a 16 year old with no experience to secure a full-time occupation, not even having the benefits of student discount to cushion the financial blow that they may now have to face in the newfound independency thrust upon them.

Many take both paths, balancing a job and schoolwork at the same time. It’s growing ever more necessary to do this, with every student trying to outdo each other with experience and UCAS points so that they can stand out when applying for even further education at university, with more and more people to compete against as this year saw a 5% rise in the number of students coming from overseas to attend universities across the UK.

On a more short term basis, jobs are necessary for the money students so desperately crave. Students in the Sutton borough are lucky enough to receive free bus travel still, but those on the border, not in a London borough, do not. This means having to pay for each bus journey into Sutton until their 17th birthday, which could be almost a year away, when they can start churning out the money for driving lessons, and eventually petrol. Something to look forward to. Like in school, the 16-year-olds are now also considered adult in the travel system, having to spend over triple the amount for a London travel card, making it even more essential to find a job to slot into the precious hours not consumed by schoolwork or socialising.

Having been through the sudden transition to adult in many areas of life, one where they remain the same is socially, with one or two years to go until they can be accepted into nightlife. Probably a transition that will be easier to endure.