Matthew's Story

Matthew has been playing the guitar since he was in Year 7 and is very interested in music. He would like to work in the music industry in the future, as a performer or sound engineer, but knows that these are very competitive careers. He therefore chose to study a range of subjects at GCSE.

'I chose to do music, a Diploma in Digital Applications (DIDA), geography and history for my options. I am good at these, enjoy them and felt that they would keep my career options open. As well as a career in music, I am also interested in computer programming, and doing both music and DIDA means I could do either.'

Matthew is studying these options alongside English, mathematics and science and is hoping to achieve high grades next year. He plans to go on to further education after Year 11 and is considering a range of A levels or a combination of vocational and A level courses. He plans to keep his career options open as much as possible and has the following advice for anyone interested in a highly competitive career:

'If you know what career you want to do choose relevant subjects, but don't just focus entirely on that. You need to keep your options open and have a back-up plan.'