For parents: helping your child choose, without choosing for them

You have seen more of life than your child, and you are also paying. Both give you a say. This page is about using that say well.

What has changed since you were a student

• There are far more courses and kinds of work than the old three of doctor, engineer and government officer.
• Admissions to many courses now run through national or state tests with online forms and counselling.
• A degree alone no longer brings a job in most fields. Skills and the quality of the college count.
• People change fields in the middle of their working lives much more often than before.

So advice that was right in your time may not fit now. It helps to read about a path together with your child before forming a view; start with the career pages.

How to talk about it

1. Ask before you tell. "What do you like about it?" opens more than "there is no future in that".
2. Separate the fear from the fact. If you are worried about money or safety, say so plainly. Children can deal with a real concern; they cannot argue with a mood.
3. Find someone who does the work. An hour with a real nurse, lawyer, designer or electrician teaches more than a week of opinions from relatives.
4. Let them do the research. Ask your child to find the course, the entrance test, the years and the official website, and explain it to you. If they will not do that much, the interest may be thin.
5. Decide together what "enough" looks like. How many attempts at an examination, how far from home, how much the family can spend.

What is yours to decide, and what is not

The budget is yours. So is a view on safety and distance. The subject they will study for years, and the work they will do for decades, they have to live with. A child pushed into a course often finishes it badly, or not at all, and the money is spent either way.

Before you pay any fee

• Check that the university and the course are recognised: see how to check a college.
• Read the refund rules and ask what happens if your child gets a better seat later.
• Pay by a method that leaves a record, and keep every receipt.
• Be careful with agents and with "management quota" offers made by phone.
• For education loans, speak to the bank directly and read the repayment terms, including what happens if the course is not completed.

During examination years

• Keep the house routine steady: meals, sleep, a quiet place to study.
• Ask about the plan once a week, not about marks every day.
• Do not compare with a cousin or a neighbour's child. It has never once made anyone study better.
• Watch for signs of real trouble: not sleeping, not eating, staying shut in, talk of being worthless. Take these seriously, talk gently, and see a doctor or counsellor. No seat is worth a child's health.

When results disappoint

The first day is not the day for analysis. Let it pass. Then sit down with the list of real options: the seats available now, another attempt, a different course. Our page on taking a drop year has questions to work through together. Many people who missed their first choice ended up in work that suits them better.

If your child has no idea at all

That is normal at 15 or 17. Do not force a decision to end the discomfort. Keep options wide: a stream with subjects they can manage, a general degree with a skill alongside, exposure to different kinds of work through relatives and friends. Interest often arrives late, and arrives through doing.

Check the official notice. This page describes how the path works in general, as understood in November 2026. Age limits, eligibility, exam patterns, dates and fees change. Before you apply or pay for anything, read the current notice on the official website named on this page. This is general information, not personal career advice.

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