When you were 16

[bullet boy]

1984 I was on YTS earning £26.25 a week working as a Tyre Fitter.

80's were the best times of my life!!

[RED BEARD]

left school at 16 (must have been a bit over 16 as i used to go on my moped) ,then went working away all over the country for about 5 or 6 years.got fed up with living out of suitcase and haven't worked away since.

[MBW]

Left school at 16 on a Friday started as a trainee grouse keeper on the Monday did four years of day release to college with 1500 acres of hill to look after on top of my studies got paid £200 a month rising to £500 a month for the last year I was there, struggled to get a beatkeepers job dossed about a bit then had a reality check and got a " proper " job so now at 23 I'm a Grave Digger for the council

Edited August 3, 2013 by MBW

[Balian]

Left school at 16 for a three year aeronautical engineering apprenticeship in 1989.

 

Think my weekly pay then was something like £70.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Balian

[Pinkella]

Wow thanks for your replies ladies and gents

[station]

Left school at 16 to do an apprenticeship and earned good money to spend on 16 year old boy things, like - girls, cars, girls, beer, girls, guns and not forgetting ..............ladies

I've had only 5 or 6 jobs with 3 total career changes in my 28 years since leaving school - reasonably happy now with time and money (most of the time) to enjoy my hobbies and interests.

 

ATB.

[clakk]

left at 15 ,16 in the holidays,shop work building stereo systems and selling betamax and video discs <size of a 12" lp>then carting boiler pipes around a power station,for a princley 25 quid a week.roof tiling then army for 6 n arf years ,been making plastic carparts for last 17 years good money ,dirty job.wished i,d stayed awake in class.and yes betamax was better than vhs

[The Essex Hunter]

Started my tool making apprenticeship at 16 in 1977, went to a training collage on a 36 week programme it was a 42 mile round trip on my moped!

We were there 4 days a week and 1 day at a collage in Chelmsford from 9am to 9pm

That one day a week carried on during the 4 years.

In the time the collage was closed for holidays I went to the work shop and spent time on the shop floor.

I had good results from that year and was given my own milling machine and a wooden tool box with basic tools…

Not to be out done by the guys I used to start work with them a 7am and finish at 6pm!

I would come home have my tea and fall asleep in the chair lol

At the end of 4 years training my pay was around £80-90!

 

TEH

[bruno22rf]

My main memory of being 16 was walking around with permanent wood-I used to be able to bend a 6" nail over it!! (cant do that anymore-not since my wrists started playing up)

[overandunder2012]

My main memory of being 16 was walking around with permanent wood-I used to be able to bend a 6" nail over it!! (cant do that anymore-not since my wrists started playing up)

[Pheasant Feeder]

I left at 16 to do an engineering apprenticeship, 6 week in the Works, followed by a year full time at college, then 3 years day release.

 

Got made redundant at 22 and not worked in engineering since, but the skills I learned have been used regularly since.

 

 

 

You do realise you are giving away your ages, hehehe

 

I think we left school the same year

[Reeceknight]

You lot are like........SUPER OLD!!!!!! like older than Jesus!

[Malik]

Went straight to college after school. Did Motor vehicle technology, heavy duty vehicle technology, mathematics & science of technicians. Wanted to go in the army as an engineer but had second thoughts.

 

I used to get £30 a week EMA. Which used to cover my bus fare and lunch lol

Edited August 3, 2013 by Malik

[Big Marty]

Left School at 15 no Exams and starting serving my time as a joiner.

[eccles]

Left at school at 15 never went for the last 6 months to busy ferreting + fishing with my granddad Started as apprentice carpenter after i had my summer hols. Think wage about £5 a week.

Could get a pint of beer for 1 old shilling and 10 old pence. then they brought in this new pence thing straight up to 11p a pint then 14p then 17p and up it went The faces on the old boys in the pups was not a happy one i can tell you. The barman and owners had some stick off them. Good old days.

[washerboy]

Did 6 mths paint prep and spraying £26.50 on a yts

then switched to an enineering yts and was set on at a toolmakers, did 17 yrs there

[unapalomablanca]

I remember finishing secondary school (should have left at 14 and started work) after the pointless exams and walking out afterwards without any sort of official end, and remembering how strange it felt as I walked back home, it all of a sudden meant nothing and you dident have to go anymore. A strange feeling of fear and excitement. I started work the next Monday on a farm for a few weeks. driving tractors and operating machinery with no supervision or training!!!!

[fl206]

Finished school and dossed around for the holidays. Went on to do my A-levels as I didn't know what vocation I wanted. Then I went to uni because that's what everyone else did. Wanted to drop it all after 2nd year (didn't enjoy it) but thought I'd finish since I racked up so much on student loans

 

To top it all off, I started a PhD 3 years ago because I still didn't know what I wanted to do... Suggestions on the back of a postcard anyone?

[escortmagnum999]

Left school at 16 as 'wanting to play rugby' didn't count as a reason to stay on and go to university! Went straight into work and college as apprentice bricklayer, was getting 75 quid a week and didn't know what I was going to spend it all on! If I had my time again id do the same, you cant beat the university of life IMO.

[njc110381]

I left school at 16 and did an NVQ2 with the local wildlife trust. It was hard work and didn't pay well, but I learned a lot of respect from one of the bosses and as hard on me as he was, I owe him one. He forced me to stop being a kid and start acting like an adult. I was far too spoilt as a kid! I left them 18 months later amd did another NVQ2 in landscaping, which I've been doing ever since.

 

You do realise you are giving away your ages, hehehe

 

And if we want to start that subject, you're older than me so it's fine!

[chrispti]

Straight out of school, straight down the local AFCO

[Muddy Funker]

Going to college for a btec first diploma in motor vehicle engineering (pointless)

 

Failed that and ended up getting an apprenticeship with a Nissan dealer.

 

21 years later I'm old bill, go figure?

Edited August 4, 2013 by Muddy Funker

[leeds chimp]

Left school as they would not let me stay on for 6th form

Went to college and did business studios and worked part time in MacDonald's

[the enigma]

Left school in '92 after doing my GCSE's when I was a few weeks short of my 17th birthday, Went to work on the family farm, and did 3 years of part time courses at agri college.......... 2 years on a YTS type scheme, which paid for my weekends and the 3rd year was just for the craic of it.

 

21 years later, I can dress it up what ever way I like, but I'm still shovelling dung on a daily basis.

[Floating Chamber]

At 16, I was in my second year of an O Level Science and Technology course. I had been into shooting with a 12 gauge for a year and was rapidly acquiring all sorts of secondhand shotguns, thanks to well paid holiday furnace work. This was 50 years ago, this very week!