Expert urges help for those on GCSEs and A-Level courses

06 Jan 2010

People graduating from GCSEs and A-Level courses should be given a helping hand.

Young people taking GCSEs and A-Level courses through distance learning could be given a helping hand out of long-term unemployment if recommendations by an expert are heeded.

Sarah Brennan, chief executive of YoungMinds has called for the establishment of services that are tailored towards meeting the needs of the country''s youth as joblessness continues to increase.

"Lack of work not only means financial hardship, but the absence of structure and opportunities to socialise with work colleagues can create high levels of emotional distress," she explained.

"Young people need to be given the skills to cope with the depressing prospect of not finding work, so that they aren''t sitting at home anxious and depressed about their futures."

Her comments were made in the wake of the publication of a report by the Prince''s Trust warning that unemployed young people could suffer from long-term poor health.

GCSEs and A-Level courses are among vocational and professional programmes offered by distance learning experts International Correspondence Schools.